Model Love
by Tyson FoxFlame
Summary: [Taito] It's now the summer after the contest and Tai's going to New York for a modeling program. What will Matt do for 3 months without Tai? How will Tai deal with the separation? And will their love survive this challenge? Sequel to Model Behavior.
1. Goodbyes Are The Worst Buys

Hey everybody! Since my first story Model Behavior was a huge success, I decided to write a sequel! *throws confetti everywhere.*  
  
Ryamon: yea, but will it be as good?  
  
Do you REALLY doubt me Ryamon?  
  
Ryamon:..........  
  
Oh who asked you? Anyway, this is going to be part 2 out of 3 in the series. If you guys like this one that is. I have everything planned out.  
  
Ryamon: that's a first.  
  
Ok, YOU NEED TO SHUT UP! MEAN MUSE!  
  
Ryamon: hee hee  
  
GRR. Anyway, here it is people, the new sequel. Enjoy!  
  
Matt's POV  
  
********************************************************************** For the first time in about 7 years, my life is so perfect. I'm finally dating the guy I've loved for so long, the band's popularity is growing, and now it's time for summer vacation. More time for me to spend with Tai. Speaking of which, he was suppose to meet me at my locker 10 minutes ago so we could go and do something.  
  
"Where the devil is that boy?" I muttered to myself. Suddenly I jumped as a pair of arms snaked around my waist.  
  
"Tai! Don't do that!" I yelped as I spun around to face my now laughing boyfriend. Taichi Kamiya, my soulmate and the best friend I could ever have. Sure I love him and all, but sometimes........he's a little TOO much to handle.  
  
"Hi, Yama." He chirped and grinned widely.  
  
"You are so annoying you know that?" I informed him as we started walking down the hallway.  
  
"Well, yea. Can you really imagine me any other way?" he replied.  
  
"Guess not." We walked out of the school and headed down the street. He had his hands behind his head and I had mine in my pockets. Except......I don't think I grew a third hand.  
  
"TAI!" I yelled as he lifted his hand out of my pocket.  
  
"Sorry. I just thought your hand could use some company." He said with a guilty grin. I shook my head and grabbed onto his free hand.  
  
"Better, Mr. Smartass?" I said with a smirk. He grinned and gripped my hand tighter. We walked along in silence, taking in all of the scenery of people starting their break.  
  
"So where are we going to go?" I asked him as he continued to lead me around.  
  
"The park." was the simple response I got.  
  
"We always go to the park though." I protested as we entered the park. He just shrugged and continued to walk along. He led me to our normal spot and sat on a large rock that overlooked the pond filled with ducks. The area around us was nice, and sort of romantic in a way. The landscaping was amazing, with all the trees and plants surrounding a small fishpond. I sat down on another rock and faced Tai.  
  
"Any real reason why we're here, Tai?" I asked him. He took his gaze off of the pond and looked at me.  
  
"Matt, I need to tell you something."  
  
"Like what?" I asked him as I moved over to his rock.  
  
"I got accepted into the modeling program I told you about." He started out.  
  
"That's great. Glad you get to do something you like." I replied.  
  
"Yea, I guess." He said quietly.  
  
"What's wrong? You don't seem excited about it." I asked in concern.  
  
"Oh, I'm excited, but I have some bad news." I raised my eyebrow.  
  
"What kind of bad news?" I asked him slowly.  
  
"The program is during the summer." He replied as he stared out into the pond. It's more like a lake, but that's beside the point.  
  
"Hey, that's ok. We can still see each other during the breaks you get. I mean, you'll be here still, so it's not hard." I concluded. He looked back up at me and shook his head sadly.  
  
"Afraid not, Matt."  
  
"What do you mean, 'Afraid not'?" I asked him.  
  
"Oh, Matt. I have to go to New York to do the program thing." He blurted out suddenly.  
  
"What? As in, America?" He nodded and sighed.  
  
"Yea. For the whole summer." He replied as he sank off his rock and onto the grass.  
  
"I'm so sorry, Matt." He said in almost a whisper. I got off my own rock and wrapped my arms around him.  
  
"Don't be sorry for doing what you want to do." I replied.  
  
"So, you're not mad at me?" he asked as he gave me his puppy look.  
  
"How could I be mad? You're my best friend, boyfriend, and soulmate all in one. You just do what your heart desires." He smiled softly and hugged me back.  
  
"Thanks for understanding, Yamato." He said and planted butterfly kisses on my neck. We sat in the silence of our own thoughts, looking out at the sunset.  
  
"When are you leaving?" I asked him. His gaze shifted to the ground suddenly. I growled and lifted his head back up.  
  
"Tomorrow. They want me there ASAP." He said sadly.  
  
"I'm the last person to know, aren't I?" I asked as that thought occurred to me. He sighed again and nodded.  
  
"Matt, I just didn't want to see you upset."  
  
"And you didn't think I wouldn't be upset if you didn't tell me?"  
  
"Which is why I told you now." I sighed and ran a hand through my blonde hair.  
  
"What time does your flight leave?" I asked him as we stood up and left the park.  
  
"About noon-ish. Everyone's coming to say their good-byes and such." He said off-handedly.  
  
"I'll be there too, you know." I reminded him.  
  
"You will?" I rolled my eyes and hit him in the back of his head.  
  
"Of course I will, you idiot. You didn't actually think you could leave without saying goodbye to me, did you?" I smirked at him as we walked towards his apartment.  
  
"Guess not." He returned a gentle smile. We reached his building and stopped walking.  
  
"Well, I better go and finish packing. I'll see you tomorrow ok?" he said uncertainly.  
  
"Yea. See ya." I replied and walked away. Tomorrow came too soon though.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Next Day ~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
There's only one word to describe my bed, and that'd be comfortable. I'm always reluctant to get out of bed in the mornings, especially on the first day of summer. But no matter how I felt, I opened my eyes anyway. I glanced over to my clock lazily and closed my eyes again. Suddenly I did a double take and was wide-awake.  
  
"AW SHIT!" I said out loud as I scrambled out of my bed. I raced into the bathroom and then back to my room, looking for anything to wear.  
  
"Damn alarm clock. Piece of shit." I cursed under my breath as I pulled on a pair of jeans. It was then I realized there was another word for my bed: seductive. I pulled my shirt on over my head and ran out to the front hall.  
  
"Dad? Hey, Dad, you in here?" I called as I put on my trainers. I ran into the kitchen and found a note on the table.  
  
'Yamato, I had to go into work today. Be back before midnight. Dad." I murmured to myself. Great, what a perfect time for Dad to have to work. I checked my watch and sighed. It was 11:30 and now I have to run to the airport. SHIT SHIT SHIT!  
  
"Luck is SO not on my side today." I moaned as I took off running down the street. I kept running as fast as my legs could allow me and checked my watch.  
  
"Damn I hate running." I complained. 11:45. I only have 15 minutes to get there. I looked up and sighed in relief. The airport was in view now.  
  
"Just keep running, Matt." I told myself and ran harder into the airport.  
  
"Crap, now where do I go?" I whined and stopped running for a bit.  
  
"Flight 182 leaving for New York will be boarding at gate 17 in 10 minutes." A voice said over the intercom.  
  
"Thank you." I said to no one in particular and turned around towards gate 17.  
  
"You're welcome." The voice replied.  
  
"HUH?" I looked at the little black box and shrugged. No time for that, must find Tai. I started running again in pursuit to beat the clock.  
  
"Matt! Over here!" I heard Sora yell at me. I smiled as best as I could and ran to her.  
  
"I am never going to do that again." I panted as I leaned against the wall.  
  
"About time you showed up. We thought you forgot or something." She said to me.  
  
"No, my damn clock didn't go off to wake me up. Where's Tai?" I asked her.  
  
"Right behind you." A new voice said, causing me to jump.  
  
"Hey, Matt." He grinned cheekily.  
  
"I thought I told you not to do that." I replied. He shrugged.  
  
"I thought you weren't going to make it. What's with the heavy breathing?"  
  
"I had to run the whole way here from my house in about, 20 minutes." I replied.  
  
"I feel so loved." He said dramatically.  
  
"You should." I muttered under my breath. Sora smiled and turned to leave.  
  
"I'll leave you two alone." She said over her shoulder and walked back towards the others. I mouthed a silent thank you and turned to Tai.  
  
"You excited?" I asked him. He nodded.  
  
"Of course I am. I mean, I'm going to be a model. I want to do this so much." He said halfheartedly.  
  
"Then what's with the long-face?" He gave me a half-shrug and shook his head.  
  
"It's just hard, you know? Knowing that by leaving for this, I'm leaving behind my family, my friends, you. I'm just going to miss you all so much." He said as his voice started to crack. I pulled him into a hug and held him tightly.  
  
"I know, but don't worry about it. We'll see eachother in what, 3 months?" I said, trying to sound cheerful.  
  
"Yea. But that's a long time." He said softly. I nodded and let him hang on to me. Then I remembered something.  
  
"Hey, I got you something." I said as I reached into my pocket.  
  
"You didn't have to." He said as I placed a box into his hand.  
  
"You know, you're right. I didn't have to. But I wanted to." I replied. He smiled and opened the box. Inside the box held a ring with the crest of courage and friendship embedded into one on it, surrounded by Celtic patterns. I had placed it on a sterling silver chain myself though. His eyes filled with tears and he embraced me again.  
  
"Thanks, Matt." He whispered into my ear.  
  
"No problem. Just a reminder that we'll be together again one day." I explained to him as I pulled a similar ring out of my shirt, attached by a chain.  
  
"Seems kind of girly, but I tried." I shrugged. He smiled and placed a kiss on my lips.  
  
"No it's not. I love it." He replied.  
  
"Flight 182 to New York now boarding for take-off." The intercom announced.  
  
"That's my flight." Tai said as he picked up his backpack.  
  
"I can't believe you're leaving for 3 months." I commented. The tears in his eyes soon started to fall.  
  
"Neither can I. I'm going to miss you all so much." He repeated as he hugged me again.  
  
"I'll miss you too." I replied and kissed him one last time.  
  
"Flight 182 to New York now boarding for take-off." The intercom said again. I wanted to kill that damn thing.  
  
"You better go." I said as I gently pried him off me. He nodded and started to walk away.  
  
"I'll write you as soon as I have a permanent address. And I'll email you before then." He called as he started walking backwards.  
  
"Ok. Have fun, Tai. See you in 3 months." I called back as tears pricked at my eyes.  
  
"I will. Love you, Matt." He said as he reached the gate.  
  
"Love you too, Tai." I replied.  
  
"Bye." He said and waved. He said goodbye to everyone else and checked in at the gate. He looked at me one last time and blew me a kiss.  
  
"Goodbye Taichi, my love." I whispered to him. I'm not sure if he heard me or not, because he grinned and waved, with tears still streaming down his face. He turned around and walked through the gate. And as soon as he was gone, I cried for the first time since my parents divorced 7 long years ago.  
  
************************************************************************ Awww......poor Matt, deprived without his Tai for 3 whole months.  
  
Matt: I can NOT believe you're doing this to me.  
  
Tai: Like I don't count?  
  
Ryamon: Of course not.  
  
RYAMON BE NICE! Sorry everybody. Anyway, was this good? Bad? Weird?  
  
Ryamon: All of the above?  
  
Let me know guys. And just as a FYI to how this is probably going to work, I'll have one chapter in Yama's POV, then one in Tai's and so on. That's all for now.  
  
Ryamon: Please review!  
  
Finally you do something useful. See y'all laterz! 


	2. Welcome to The World of A&F Corporations

Well, looks like this story will be just as popular as the first one. I'm so glad. And just like in the first one, I'm going to answer reviews.  
  
Fell: Well, you never really know what to expect of me. Thanks for reading it. Glad you think it's cute.  
  
CCPheonix: Yes, Ryamon and Patamon are mean. But I've gotten use to it. I have no idea why I made them go 3 months w/o eachother, but glad u like it all the same. That's sad that your best friend is gone for 3 months. Oh well, hope you like this chapter!  
  
matt4ever: Yup I made a sequel. I feel bad for those two though, even though I wrote it like that.  
  
Sakura: I am cruel. I FEEL SO BAD NOW! *cries* Glad you like my series. And that ring is gorgeous, that's why I created it. I want one!  
  
nEo-cHaN: you like squealing at cute things don't you? Not complaining of course, cause I do it too. This is sad and I have no idea why I'm torturing my characters.  
  
Dark N' Dreary: thanks. And what's with you and the tree being on fire?  
  
PA & DA: I would die too. They will eventually get back together though. They are so perfect for eachother. Thanks for loving it.  
  
Sillie: they will. I mean, it's Matt and Tai. They are too perfect to let a little thing like this bring them down.  
  
Feng Shui Boy: it does start sad....hopefully it'll appear better in the end. I'm not sure if it'll be a trilogy yet, but I plan on it if enough people like this story.  
  
That's all guys. Thanks a lot for reviewing. Please read the bottom note and enjoy!  
  
Tai's POV  
  
**************************************************************************** ** Bored. Miserable. Bored. Heartbroken. Bored. GAH! I can't stand this! This damn flight is 13 hours long and it's only been about 5 hours of it. Everything's going to be so different this summer. I won't get to see my Yama until the end of August, I'm going to be living in a new country full of strangers, and I'm going to be a male model.  
  
"I don't want to do this anymore." I groaned and slid down further into my seat.  
  
"Do what anymore?" a voice asked from behind me. I jumped and looked to my right. Standing there in the aisle was a boy, who I assumed was the one who asked me about my comment.  
  
"Oh. Sorry about that. It's nothing. Just ignore me and my schizophrenic self." I said with a laugh. He started to laugh too and sat down next to me.  
  
"The name's Justin. Justin Granger." He introduced himself and stuck his hand out for me to shake.  
  
"Tai Kamiya." I returned the handshake.  
  
"So where you headed for Tai?" he asked me.  
  
"The big apple for the summer." I replied.  
  
"That's cool. That's where I live." I raised my eyebrow.  
  
"If you live in NYC.........then why are you flying out of Japan?" I asked skeptically.  
  
"Long story. Basically my girlfriend went to Japan to visit for a few weeks and I wanted to go with her. But unfortunately I'm a complete dumbass and booked my vacay time for two weeks AFTER she left to go back home. So I've been in Japan since then." He explained.  
  
"Bummer. That must have sucked majorly." He shook his head and stretched out in his seat.  
  
"Nah, not really. I like Japan. I've never been there before, but my girlfriend always tells me how great it is."  
  
"Sounds like she knows the area pretty well." I commented as I relaxed too.  
  
"Yea. She used to live there when she was a kid. Loves it over there."  
  
"What's she like?" I asked him.  
  
"She's so incredible. Very bubbly and happy as long as she has her parent's charge card. She's very sincere with her feelings and is always honest with people. Sweet, caring, always wanting to help people. But she can be whiny and annoying at times, but other then that, she's wonderful." He rambled on and let out a dreamy sigh.  
  
"Is she pretty?" I asked. He nodded enthusiastically.  
  
"Hell yea. She's got beautiful brown eyes, strawberry blonde hair except she dyed it but it's about shoulder length. Decent height and weight and such. She's absolutely perfect." He finished off with a loving gaze in his eyes from these thoughts. I shook my head and looked into his eyes. Then I did a double take.  
  
"Dude, are those, like...." I couldn't finish my sentence without seeming rude. So instead I pointed at his eyes.  
  
"My real eyes?" he finished for me. I nodded slowly. He grinned and looked at me.  
  
"Yup. How I was born, how they're gonna stay." He said.  
  
"Dude......that's so cool!" I exclaimed as I examined his eyes further. One of his eyes was blue, but his other eye was 2 colors. One side of his eye was blue, but the other side was brown. It was so odd, but it was awesome. (A/N: I do actually have a friend who has eyes just like this. THEY'RE SO COOL!) I looked over the rest of him too. He wasn't really bad looking actually. He had blondish brown spiky hair, decent build, great smile.......of course Matt's way hotter but still. His girlfriend was lucky.  
  
"Why are you going to New York?"  
  
"For a program over the summer. But then I'm going back to Japan for school." I replied.  
  
"That's pretty cool. Maybe you, me, and my girlfriend could hang out if you have downtime."  
  
"Maybe. That's be great." I grinned. He returned the smile and starting talking again about himself. This guy was really cool. He was my age, into sports and video games, and he was rich. We spent the whole flight talking about everything we could think of. The flight didn't seem half as long when I was talking to him. But of course it had to end.  
  
"Ladies and Gentlemen, please fasten your seatbelts. We are about to land. Thank you for flying International Airlines." A flight attendant's voice came over the intercom. We slowly descended from the air and landed at the airport. Justin and I stood up and walked out into the airport.  
  
"Well, it's been great talking to you, Tai. Maybe I'll see you around sometime." He said and stuck out his hand.  
  
"The pleasure's been mine, Justin. See ya later." I shook his hand and picked up my backpack.  
  
"Bye." He called as he weaved his way through the crowds. I waved after him and looked around the airport.  
  
"Great. NOW where am I suppose to go?" I said to myself and started walking towards baggage claim. Suddenly I was attacked out of nowhere.  
  
"AHH!" I fell backwards and landed on the ground.  
  
"HI TAI!" a cheery voice greeted me.  
  
"GET THE HELL OFF OF......Mimi?" I interrupted myself. I looked up at the girl sitting on top of me.  
  
"The one and only!" She chirped and stood up. I stayed on the floor and looked at her in confusement. (A/N: is that even a word?)  
  
"You gonna stay down there all day or what? We got to get going!" she said as she pulled me off the floor and dragged me out of the airport.  
  
"Mimi, wait a second! What about my stuff?" I asked as I struggled to keep up with her.  
  
"Already in the car." was the reply I got. I followed her down the street until she suddenly stopped in front of a limo.  
  
"Are you just going to gawk at it all day? Get it!" Mimi said as she shoved me into the car. She followed me in and shut the door.  
  
"Back to the company if you please, Johnson." She told the driver.  
  
"Right away Ms. Tachikawa." He replied and started to drive down the street.  
  
"Meems, what's going on here?" I asked her. She smiled and sat back in her seat.  
  
"Mark sent me to come get you and take you back to the company. How was your flight in?" she asked me.  
  
"It was pretty cool. After I met this guy and started talking to him."  
  
"Tai, you already have a boyfriend. Just remember that."  
  
"Oh shut up. I know that and besides, nobody can compare to my Yama-chan."  
  
"YOUR Yama-chan?"  
  
"Yes, mine. Now, where exactly are we going?"  
  
"I already told you, back to the company. Then Mark want's to talk to you."  
  
"How much longer until we get there? I want to sleep."  
  
"Not much longer. And it's called jetlag. Get used to it." I groaned and placed my head against the window. She laughed and patted my head.  
  
"Aww, poor baby. We're here." She said and got out of the car. I followed her and looked at the building in awe.  
  
"Mimi, is this......." I couldn't finish my sentence. She grinned broadly and nodded.  
  
"Tai, welcome to A&F headquarters." She said and dragged me inside.  
  
"This is the place where you will work, train, and live until your draft time is over. It sort of works like a collage. You have classes where you learn how to model professionally, jobs where you do your photo shoots, and dormrooms where you live and sleep." Mimi explained to me as we walked along the halls of the building. Suddenly she stopped in front of a door.  
  
"This is Mark's office. He wanted to talk to you." She said as she pulled me inside. I'm really starting to feel like a puppy on a leash being dragged by a three-year-old. We entered the room and walked towards the desk. Or more like Mimi walked to the desk and dragged me by the arm behind her.  
  
"He's here, Mark." She announced to him. He turned around in his chair and smiled.  
  
"Tai, welcome. Hope your flight went smoothly." He said and stuck out his hand.  
  
"It was all right. But tiring." I replied and shook his hand.  
  
"You'll have plenty of chances to rest up in a while. Right now we need to discuss your contract. Have a seat." He instructed and waved his hand at the plush chairs in front of his desk. I sunk down into one of them and waited for him to continue.  
  
"Now, it says you only want to be here for the summer, correct?"  
  
"Yes sir. My parents want me back by the end of August so I can start school again."  
  
"That's perfectly fine. And you read all the rules of the company, right?"  
  
"Yes I did sir."  
  
"Tai, call me Mark. Or just say yes. Don't call me sir. Sounds too....formal." I smiled and nodded.  
  
"Sorry about that Mark."  
  
"No need to be sorry. Shows you were raised well." He looked at his watch and then back at the paper in his hand.  
  
"Well, that's all for now. Your schedule will be sent up to your room later on. And you will meet your model trainer later on. Anyway, you are free to go. And if Mimi doesn't mind showing you around, you can explore the corporation." He finished off.  
  
"That's fine with me, Mark." Mimi smiled and headed out the door.  
  
"You coming?" she called over her shoulder. I looked at Mark for any signal that I could really leave.  
  
"It's ok, Tai. You're free until tomorrow." He smiled. I returned the smile and ran out after Mimi.  
  
"See, that wasn't so hard." She told me.  
  
"Yea, whatever. What's a model trainer?" I asked her as we walked into the elevator.  
  
"Someone who trains you to be a model, usually a advanced model."  
  
"Who's mine?" I raised an eyebrow. She glanced sideways at me and smirked.  
  
"C'mon, T. Even you're not that dense."  
  
"You?" I asked in surprise.  
  
"But of course. Mark did that on purpose." She replied as she stepped out of the elevator.  
  
"Where exactly are we going?" I asked her as I continued to follow her.  
  
"Well, you're not the only one I'm training. I'm making my rounds first, then I want you to meet some people." She replied as she opened another door. I just shook my head and followed her. We walked through the room where there were kids about our age doing different things. She walked over to a girl who looked about 13 and was watching a video.  
  
"Hey 'Kenzie." She greeted the girl. The girl, Kenzie I guess, looked up and suddenly smiled brightly.  
  
"Hi Mimi. When did you get back?" she jumped up and hugged Mimi. Mimi grinned and hugged her back.  
  
"Just a while ago. What are you doing right now?"  
  
"Watching the video tape of different model contests."  
  
"Again? You've watched those tapes at least 6 times!"  
  
"I know, but I'm running out of ideas for poses." Mimi shook her head and grinned.  
  
"Don't worry about it, I'll help you tomorrow. Right now I'm being a tour guide."  
  
"Tour guide?" the girl looked up and then landed her gaze on me.  
  
"Who's this guy?" she asked Mimi and smiled at me.  
  
"This is Tai Kamiya. He's a good friend of mine from Japan. Tai, this is McKenzie McKean. She's another one of my students." She introduced us.  
  
"So you're the new guy Mark told us about." McKenzie stated and looked me over.  
  
"Definitely model material." She concluded at last.  
  
"Isn't he though?" Mimi said. They started going on about how cute I was and what a good model I'll be and blah blah blah. Meanwhile, I gave McKenzie the once-over. She was pretty really, with her auburn-red hair and violet eyes. She came up to about my shoulder in height and she was thin, like a model should be. Or so I've been told.  
  
"Well, we better be going. See ya later, Kenzie." Mimi jerked me out of my thoughts and started to walk away.  
  
"See ya Meems. And nice meetin' ya, Tai." She added and smiled at me.  
  
"Same. See you." I replied and followed Mimi out of the room and down the halls again.  
  
"She seemed nice." I said. Mimi nodded and turned down another hall.  
  
"McKenzie is just a sweetie. Bit of a handful sometimes, but I love her anyway." She replied and walked into another room. In this one were a bunch of guys working out, doing push-ups, crunches, you know the deal. Mimi walked around them, saying hello to various guys until she reached a smaller room. She opened the door and shut it behind her. The room was pitch-black as soon as she did. She groaned as soon as she realized this.  
  
"Honestly Ryan, can't you leave the lights on?" she asked in an annoyed tone and flipped on the lights. Sitting on the floor was a boy of about 14 maybe, cross-legged and eyes closed. He had short brown spiky hair and appeared to be meditating. He signed and opened his brown eyes.  
  
"Mimi, I can't focus if I have all this bright light glaring in my face." He replied and stood up. He glared at her and then looked at me.  
  
"And who are you?" he asked me.  
  
"Ryan, this is Tai Kamiya. He's a good friend of mine, so be nice. Tai, this is Ryan Harman." She introduced us.  
  
"You're the new guy. From Japan, right?" Ryan asked me.  
  
"Yea. But I'm living here now, so go figure." I shrugged. He grinned and looked back at Mimi.  
  
"I take it he's your new student?" Ryan asked her.  
  
"Yup. Speaking of student, what are you doing?" she asked him.  
  
"Trying to relax my mind for my shoot tomorrow." He replied. She nodded.  
  
"Ok. Then I guess we'll leave you alone so you can concentrate." She said and walked towards the door.  
  
"Thanks Mimi. See ya around. Nice meeting you, Tai." He called after us.  
  
"Same here, Ryan." I said and waved. Mimi said goodbye and walked out of the room into the workout room again.  
  
"He seemed a bit rude, didn't he?" I commented as we walked around the guys again.  
  
"Ignore him for now. He's just stressed out about the shoot. He always has a hard time dealing with them, so he has to clear his mind and make himself totally relaxed. But when he's not preparing for a shoot, he's absolutely a doll. You'll like him on a good day." She said and walked into the hallway again. She suddenly bumped into someone.  
  
"Hey watch where you're- oh hey Mimi. Didn't realize it was you." The guy said and pulled her off the floor. He was a tall guy, with black spiky hair, hazel eyes, and slightly tanned skin. Jeez, what's with people and spiky hair in this place?  
  
"Don't worry about it, Danny. Glad I found you besides. Have you seen JT?" she asked him.  
  
"Yea, I think he walked into his room a bit ago." He replied. Then he looked down at me.  
  
"And who's this?" he asked, sounding slightly amused.  
  
"This is Tai Kamiya. He's a really good friend of mine from Japan. Tai, this is Danny Dalton." She made introductions again.  
  
"You're the new guy?" he asked, sounding sarcastic a bit. I nodded slowly and looked at this guy. And I didn't like what I saw.  
  
"How cute." He said crudely. Wait a sec......he's mocking me! Ok, hold on, no one, and I mean NO ONE mocks Tai Kamiya and gets away with it. Unfortunately, Mimi chose that moment to leave.  
  
"Well, I better be going. See ya later, Danny."  
  
"Bye Mimi." He smiled again and looked innocent. She smiled back and started walking again.  
  
"I don't like that guy." I stated as she led me down another hall.  
  
"He's all right once you figure out how he works. Sometimes, he's just like that. You'll learn to live with it." She replied and stopped in front of a door.  
  
"Where are we going now?" I asked her as she placed her hand on the door handle.  
  
"I want you to meet someone. Come on." She said and walked inside. I shrugged and followed her.  
  
"You in here, babe?" she called as she walked through the apartment-like room.  
  
"Yea, hang on a sec, Meems." A voice called back. A boy walked in through the doorway. I could feel my face go into a look of shock.  
  
"Justin?" I said in surprise. He looked up and towards me. His face formed into a look of surprise too.  
  
"Tai? What are you doing here?" he asked and smiled. Mimi looked slightly confused.  
  
"You two already know eachother?" she asked.  
  
"Yea, this is the guy from the plane I told you about." I replied. Then I looked back and forward between Mimi and Justin.  
  
"Question is, how do YOU two know eachother?" I asked. Mimi didn't respond, so Justin stepped in.  
  
"Well, remember my girlfriend I was telling you about? This is her." He replied.  
  
"Oh my god. Mimi, you never told us you were going out with someone." I told my friend, just to embarrass her further.  
  
"Shut up, Tai." She growled. Justin and I both started to laugh.  
  
"So what are you doing here? For real." I asked Justin.  
  
"I work here, as a model. What's your story?" he asked me.  
  
"I was drafted as a model for the summer."  
  
"So YOU'RE the new guy Mark was jabbering about in his last email. That's so cool." He replied with this excited look on his face. I nodded and was about to reply when I was interrupted.  
  
"Justin? What's going on?" another voice came from behind him. He turned around and revealed a little girl who only looked about 8 years old.  
  
"Never mind, it's nothing important." He assured her. She rolled her eyes and saw Mimi.  
  
"Mimi! I didn't know you came back from the airport yet!" she said as she threw herself at Mimi. Mimi laughed and picked the girl up.  
  
"Yup, and I brought a friend." She replied. The girl looked up at me and smiled.  
  
"Hi, what's your name?" she asked me. I couldn't help but smile back.  
  
"This is Tai Kamiya. He's a good friend of mine from Japan."  
  
"As good of friends as you and Justin?" she asked innocently. Mimi and Justin both blushed a bit.  
  
"Not THAT good." Justin said. I just laughed and shook my head.  
  
"So who are you?" I asked the little girl.  
  
"This is Tess. She's my youngest student." Mimi replied for her. Tess nodded and smiled.  
  
"Nice ta meet ya, Tai." She said stuck out her hand. I shook it, just to humor her.  
  
"So I'm guessing this is some relative of yours?" I directed my question towards Justin.  
  
"Yea, little sister." He replied.  
  
"I should have known. She looks just like you, except both her eyes are blue." Justin smiled and took Tess from Mimi's arms.  
  
"Yup, my full-time job." Tess made a face at him and I couldn't help but laugh out loud. Mimi grinned and looked at her watch.  
  
"We better get going, I'm sure you both want to sleep." She said to Justin and me.  
  
"Hell yes. I'll see you tomorrow Mimi. You too, Tai." He said and put Tess down.  
  
"See ya." Mimi and I called over our shoulders and walked out the door. We walked down the hallway some more.  
  
"How old is Tess?" I asked Mimi.  
  
"She's almost 8, like next month." She replied.  
  
"Isn't that kind of young for a model?" I asked skeptically.  
  
"Nah, they needed models for A&F kids. Besides, Tess loves Justin to death, so she's happy to be a model. 'As long as I can be with Justin, I'm happy.' In her own words." She replied again.  
  
"She's cute." I commented as we turned down a hallway.  
  
"Isn't she though? Justin and I train her together." She said and stopped in front of a new door.  
  
"This is your room. I have no idea who you're sharing with, but this is where you'll sleep and hang out. Unless you hang out in my or Justin's room." She said and opened the door.  
  
"Where's your room?" I asked her as I walked in after her.  
  
"Not too far. Right down the hall at 182." She said.  
  
"Where's my stuff?" I asked as I walked around the mini apartment.  
  
"Already here and put away." She replied and checked her watch again.  
  
"Hey, I'm gonna leave you now. I'll come back to get you in the morning. Since I have your schedule and all." She winked and headed out the door.  
  
"Ok, thanks Meems. See ya tomorrow." I called after her. She waved and shut the door. I flopped down on my bed and sighed. Then an idea struck me.  
  
"I should probably write home and tell everyone I got here ok." I said to myself and got my laptop out. Actually it was Izzy's old one, but hell a laptop is a laptop right? I logged into my email account and wrote a new message.  
  
From: Tai Kamiya (leader_boi7@hotmail.com)  
  
To: hikari_koneko@hotmail.com, hopefulb-ballplaya@msn.com, soccer_eagle@yahoo.com, leave_me_a_lone_wolf@hotmail.com, pineapple- user&abuser@hotmail.com, dr_joe@msn.com, kari_is_mine@yahoo.com, totally_perfecto@aol.com, prunejuice_kendodude@aol.com, no_longer_evil@hotmail.com, can't_cook@aol.com  
  
Subject: hey all  
  
Hey everybody,  
  
Tai here. Just wanted to let you all know that I'm ok and I made it to NYC safely. I've got Mimi here to look after me if you're worried. If you want to write to me, here's the addy:  
  
Abercrombie and Fitch Company  
  
CC: Tai Kamiya  
  
819 W. Broadway  
  
New York, New York 10108  
  
That's it. I also have the laptop if you wanna email me. Miss you all a lot and can't wait to se you all again. I'll try to call when I can. Take care guys.  
  
Love, Tai.  
  
Satisfied with myself, I sent the email and shut the laptop. Suddenly the door opened and Danny walked in.  
  
"What are you doing here?" He asked me. I looked up and frowned.  
  
"I live here. What are you doing here?" I asked. He glared at me.  
  
"I live here too." He said slowly. Damn it. Now I'm stuck with him? Fun. Can't you just hear the excitement in my voice? Sarcasm is something you learn easily when being around Matt Ishida.  
  
"Ok. Fine, whatever." I said and took off my shirt. He walked up to me and put his hands on my shoulders, pinning me to a wall.  
  
"No not whatever. You best listen to me, Kamiya. I rule campus around here."  
  
"Is this even a campus?" I snorted. He tightened his grip and shut me up.  
  
"You don't get in my way, I won't do anything. You listen to me though, one toe out of line and I will make you wish you stayed in Japan. Got it?" he hissed at me.  
  
"Sure, whatever, can you let go of me now?" I asked boredly. He shoved me away from the wall and stormed into his room. I sighed and crawled into bed.  
  
"Great, just what I need, another Kei." I said to myself and shut off the light. The more I think about this, I wish I DID stay in Japan. I miss everything already and I haven't even been here a whole day. Especially Matt.  
  
"Hope he still loves me." I whispered to myself and cried myself to sleep.  
  
**************************************************************************** **  
  
That's it guys! Sorry if this seemed bad, but I had to introduce all the characters and show what Tai has to deal with. And the next couple of chapters will probably be in Tai's POV. Oh and btw, it you couldn't figure out the emails, here they are.  
  
Hikari_koneko@hotmail.com: Kari.  
  
Hopefulb-ballplaya@msn.com: TK  
  
Soccer_eagle@yahoo.com: Sora  
  
Leave_me_a_lone_wolf@hotmail.com: Matt  
  
Pineapple-user&abuser@hotmail.com: Izzy Dr_joe@msn.com: Joe obviously.  
  
Kari_is_mine@yahoo.com: Daisuke  
  
Totally_perfecto@aol.com: Yolei.  
  
Prunejuice_kendodude@aol.com: Cody.  
  
No_longer_evil@hotmail.com: Ken.  
  
Can't_cook@aol.com: Mrs. Kamiya.  
  
Think that's all. Oh, and FYI, I'm leaving next week to go to Arizona for a dance competition, so I may or may not be able to update for about 2 weeks. I am taking a laptop with me however, so I can try. Anyway, hope you like this chapter and please review. And I'm sorry if this was just useless crap.  
  
Ryamon: Believe me, it was.  
  
I wasn't asking you Ryamon. Bye everybody! 


	3. Matt Sick and Model Tricks

Hey everybody! I got to update one more time before I leave on my trip. In fact, I leave in 4 hours. But enough about that, let's answer reviews.  
  
PA and DA: Thanks! I didn't think I was talented. I had fun making up the emails. And why are you up at 3 in the morning anyway?  
  
vialana: school? Now? Where do you live? Danny's trouble. He's modeled after a real guy who annoys me. So I made him the jerk in here. I don't know why I had Mimi and Justin together, but it's cool. I'm glad u like the plot. And I actually updated BEFORE I left. =D  
  
Sillie: I don't like Danny either.....but oh well, when the story's done, I can burn him and bury him next to Kei. *evil grin*  
  
Aero-Grrl: He does tend to be a bully magnet. Maybe it's cause he's cute and they're jealous. Glad you think it's cute.  
  
Fell: you do now? What's going on then? Lol.  
  
nEo-cHaN: yep, 2 weeks. I'll try to update while I'm down there. And as for the last part....no comment. But you're not exactly right. =D  
  
CCPheonix: Tai's not afraid of Danny. Unfortunately, Matt can't kill him if he's on a different continent. But be my guest. You can kill him when this story is done. Thanks, I know I'll win. And enjoy myself. Tiger wants food, Tiger gets food right now. XD  
  
Gay Witch: glad you liked MB and that you'll like this. As for a happy ending...not in this story I plan on making this a trilogy or whatever it's called. That's where the BIG happy ending will be.  
  
Angel Chick: Thanks. Updated right now.  
  
Ok, wow, I must be more excited to leave then I thought.  
  
Ryamon: without the comments, just the chapter itself, you wrote 25 pages. o_0  
  
Yep, so I hope you people are happy. Even though I'm not really happy with it. But you decide what you think. Enjoy yourself. I don't know when I'll be able to update next. Oh, and I added a key to this story.  
  
Key: "Ryamon"- talking. 'Ryamon'- thoughts. _Ryamon_- empathizing words.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~- time change  
  
Tai's POV  
  
**************************************************************************** ** I didn't really get much sleep last night, and it wasn't just because of the time change. I know my eyes are probably swollen now from being a wuss and crying the whole night. I don't even want to get out of my bed today, and I don't want interruptions from anybody. Unfortunately, Mimi had a different idea.  
  
"Hey Tai. Time to get up." She said cheerfully as she bounced into my room. I groaned and pulled the comforter over my face.  
  
"Go away." I moaned and closed my sore eyes.  
  
"No, get up." She instructed me and ripped off the covers. I curled up and buried my face into my pillow.  
  
"Mimi, just leave me alone." I shot back. She sat on my bed and pulled my face out of my pillow and did a double take.  
  
"What's wrong?" she asked me. I shook my head and shrugged.  
  
"Look that bad huh?" I replied and sat up. She nodded and smiled sadly.  
  
"Home sick?" she asked me. I shook my head again.  
  
"Not exactly."  
  
"Then what's up?" she asked in confusement.  
  
"Matt sick."  
  
"Matt sick?" she raised her eyebrow.  
  
"Yea. I just miss him so much." I replied as my eyes watered again. She sighed and hugged my shoulders.  
  
"Three months is a long time. But you'll see him soon enough." She reassured me.  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Oh come on. You'll be plenty busy here and those three months will go by like that." She snapped her fingers.  
  
"Yea. Guess you're right." I gave her a small smile. Her grin grew wider.  
  
"Now there's the Tai I know." She said happily and got off the bed.  
  
"C'mon, champ. Mark wants to see you this morning." I shook my head and followed her out of the room.  
  
"Tai, I meant _after_ you change clothes." She reminded me. I looked down and realized I was only in my boxers. I turned around and headed back into my room.  
  
"Aren't those Matt's boxers?" she asked me as I opened the drawers in the dresser.  
  
"What's it to you?" I raised my eyebrow.  
  
"Nothing, just thought I would ask." She said carelessly. Then my mind processed what she had just said.  
  
"How would _you_ know what Matt's boxers look like?" I asked accusingly.  
  
"Because I've seen them before." My eyes widened to about the size of dinner plates.  
  
"WHY THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN LOOKING AT MY BOYFRIEND'S BOXERS?!?!?" I yelled and glared at her. She just shook her head.  
  
"You are so overprotective, you know that?" she said.  
  
"I DON'T CARE!!! WHY HAVE YOU SEEN HIS BOXERS???" I demanded.  
  
"If you must know, it was an accident." She rolled her eyes.  
  
"How do you see someone's boxers on accident?" I asked as I slipped my shirt off of my head.  
  
"He missed school one day so I decided to check up on him. And when he answered the door, he was wearing those boxers." She pointed at the boxers I was wearing.  
  
"Ok. Just making sure you weren't sleeping with him or something."  
  
"Of course not." She replied. I flashed her a grin and went back to looking for some jeans.  
  
"Question is.....why do you have Matt's boxers?" she said slyly as color rose to my cheeks.  
  
"That's really none of your business Mimi, so can you leave now?"  
  
"Why? Too embarrassed now?" she teased me.  
  
"That, and I want to get dressed and I really don't think you need to watch me change. Now leave!" I commanded her.  
  
"Aye aye, Captain." She mumbled under her breath and shut the door. I started looking around for my pants again. That is, until I realized I couldn't find any.  
  
"What the hell?" I said out aloud and started emptying my drawers and closet.  
  
"Where the hell are all my clothes?" I started to panic now. This is not cool.  
  
"KUSO!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.  
  
"Watch your language, Tai." Mimi's voice came through the door. I walked across the room and opened it.  
  
"Mimi, all my clothes are gone." I exclaimed as I poked my head out the door. Her look contorted into an expression of amusement and confusement. (A/n: I know confusement isn't a word, but hey...this is ME we're talking about here. XD)  
  
"What do you mean your clothes are gone?"  
  
"Just that, all of my clothes are gone! Not in the closet, not in the dresser, gone!" I leaned against the doorframe.  
  
"What am I suppose to do now?" I moaned.  
  
"Hang on." She replied and took off down the hallway.  
  
"Mimi wait a sec!" I yelled at her retreating figure.  
  
"Damn women." I cursed under my breath and headed back inside to wait. I started looking for anything, even a clean pair of boxers to wear. But they were also gone. I started to walk back towards the door when Mimi burst in suddenly, hitting me right in the face.  
  
"OWCHIE!" I cried and brought my hand up to my face. My nose had started bleeding.  
  
"Oh my gosh! Tai I'm SO sorry, I had no clue that you were standing right there!" Mimi exclaimed and entered the room.  
  
"Well, that's why _normal_ people knock." Justin said from behind her.  
  
"Oh, who asked you?" she snorted and snapped her fingers.  
  
"Tai, get dressed. Justin, you go downstairs." She directed us.  
  
"You'd think we were in the army or something." Justin whispered under his breath. I grinned and shrugged. He grinned back and handed me some clothes.  
  
"Put these on until we find yours. We'll meet you downstairs." He said with a wave and walked towards the door.  
  
"Actually, we'll meet _you_ downstairs. Mark wants to see him this morning." Mimi cut in.  
  
"Then why are you going?"  
  
"Because I'm his trainer." Was the reply.  
  
"Yea, but I'm the boyfriend." He murmured and pouted. Mimi giggled and kissed him.  
  
"Oh shut up. You know I love you anyway. Now go, we need to let Tai get dressed and his nose to stop bleeding." She said as she pushed Justin out the door. I shook my head at the closed door.  
  
"Those two are so weird sometimes." I said to myself and got dressed. I walked out of the hallway and found it empty.  
  
"Damn it. She said she'd wait for me." I cursed at her and started walking around. Wait, Mimi lives in this hallway.  
  
"Number 182. She better be here or I'll have to hurt her." I said to myself and knocked on the door. I knocked again, with no response. I knocked once more.  
  
"HOLD YOUR ASS!" A voice came from inside and the door swung open.  
  
"Um....is Mimi around?" I asked her.  
  
"Yea, hang on, Tai." She said and walked off. 'How does she know my name and I don't know hers?' I thought as I stepped inside the apartment. It looked a lot different then my apartment. Posters of music and movie stars all over the front room, teen magazines on the coffee table, and pop music blaring from the stereo in the kitchen.  
  
"Oh, hey Tai. I didn't think you were done yet." Mimi said as she came out of a bedroom.  
  
"Um, yea. Unlike you, I don't take ½ hour to put on jeans and a shirt." I said and looked around some more.  
  
"Nice apartment."  
  
"Thanks. Tyce and I decorated ourselves." She said as she put on her shoes.  
  
"Who's Tyce?" I asked.  
  
"I'm Tyce. Tyce Moore." The girl who answered the door replied.  
  
"And you knew me how?" I asked curiously. She shrugged slightly.  
  
"Mimi." Was the given answer. Tyce seemed nice, with her blonde hair and green eyes. She had an accent though and I couldn't figure out what it was. And Mimi didn't give me the chance to because the next thing I knew, she was dragging me out of her apartment.  
  
"We'll see you later, Tyce." Mimi called over her shoulder. Tyce waved and shut the door. Mimi continued to pull me along behind her.  
  
"Mimi, I _can_ walk you know." I reminded her and gently pried her off of my arm.  
  
"Sorry about that. You know me, get too carried away in things." She replied and turned down a hallway.  
  
"Tyce isn't from around here is she?" I said randomly.  
  
"How'd you know?" she asked me. I shrugged and walked into the elevator.  
  
"She doesn't sound like she's been here for long."  
  
"She's been here for about 2 or 3 years. But she was born and raised in London, England. So she has the British accent." Mimi explained as the elevator doors opened again on the ground floor.  
  
"Why does Mark want to see me?" I asked her as we walked down the new hallway. She shrugged slightly.  
  
"I honestly have no idea. But while you're in there, you should probably tell him about your stuff being gone." She said as we entered Mark's office. She knocked on the door and opened it.  
  
"Morning Mark." Mimi greeted him and I waved. He looked up from his desk and grinned.  
  
"Morning guys. Sleep well I hope?" he said as he put away his papers.  
  
"Yea pretty good." I replied while Mimi glared at me.  
  
"Actually Mark, Tai got his stuff taken yesterday." Mimi informed him. He looked up in surprise.  
  
"What stuff?"  
  
"Just my clothes. I went to get some for today and they were all gone." I explained to him.  
  
"How odd. Nothing like that has ever happened before." He said thoughtfully.  
  
"Well, if they don't turn up by tomorrow, then I'll think of something." He said. I nodded and shrugged.  
  
"Now, for why I brought you here in the first place. Obviously you know that you're here to model. And as a model, you have to model for different magazine ads and random pictures for the A&F catalogue." Mark started off.  
  
"I remember Mark. What's your point exactly?" I asked him.  
  
"You're one of those kinds of people who like to get right to things. I like that. Anyway, my point is, you have a photo shoot for the catalogue on Friday." Mimi looked a bit shocked.  
  
"But Mark, don't you think that's kind of soon? I mean, it's already Wednesday." Mimi said.  
  
"I think he's ready. What do you think Tai?" Mark turned his attention to me.  
  
"I say let's go for it." I replied and grinned.  
  
"Excellent. So, Mimi can you work with him for the next two days?" Mark asked her.  
  
"Um.....sure." she said uncertainly.  
  
"Great! Ok, so Tai, come back to my office on Friday and I'll take you down to your shoot." Mark said and stood up.  
  
"Sounds good to me." I replied and stood up as well. (A/n: did I ever say he sat down? o_0)  
  
"Very good. Now what do you say that we head down and have some breakfast?" he suggested and walked out of his office.  
  
"I say that's the best thing I've heard all day." I said and followed him with Mimi following me.  
  
"Tai are you sure you want to do something like that so soon?" Mimi caught up with me. I shrugged and grinned.  
  
"Yea, why not? Not that big of a deal, Meems." I replied as we walked into the eating hall.  
  
"Not that big of a deal? Tai, this is a _very_ big deal. I just don't know if you're ready to handle something like that." She sighed and sat down on a bench.  
  
"Who cares? I'll learn." I gave her a goofy grin in hopes to cheer her up. She only shook her head and looked around. I started looking around also.  
  
"Holy cow, are these all models?" I asked in awe.  
  
"Of course not. Some of them are models, some are photographers, and some are magazine and catalogue editors. In training though, just like you." She said monotonously as she continued to look around.  
  
"Are you looking for someone in particular?" I asked her. She jumped out of her dreamlike state.  
  
"What'd you ask?" she blinked at me. Sweatdrop.  
  
"I _said_ looking for someone?"  
  
"Yea. He said he'd be down here."  
  
"Justin?" I asked her. She rolled her eyes.  
  
"No Tai, Santa Clause. Yes Justin!" she went back to looking for him. Suddenly I spotted him.  
  
"OY! JUSTIN! YOUR GIRLFRIEND WANTS YOU OVER HERE SO SHE CAN SNOG YOU!" I yelled across the room at Justin. Laughter filled the air. And if looks could kill, Mimi would have murdered and buried me 12 times.  
  
"Didn't know you knew how to use British lingo, mate." Justin said cheekily and sat down next to Mimi, who by the way had gone a brilliant chrinsolm color. (A/n: I can't spell and my spell check bites munkys. Forgive me!)  
  
"Is that a new shade of blush, Meems?" Justin asked her innocently. Then we both cracked up.  
  
"Tai, you do realize I will get you back for this." She hissed at me as more people laughed at the scene.  
  
"Makes you love me all the more huh?" I grinned sweetly while Justin continued to laugh his ass off.  
  
"I hate you both." Justin stopped laughing.  
  
"Why do you hate me? I didn't do anything!" he exclaimed.  
  
"You were laughing at me." She said pointedly.  
  
"SO? It was funny, what'd you expect me to do?"  
  
"Pretend that it never happened!"  
  
"You know, I would have......but this is better!" he said cheerfully. Her only response was a growl and what sounded like "I'm not talking to you." He just rolled his eyes and turned his attention to me.  
  
"So what'd Mark want?" he asked as he started in on his food.  
  
"Talking about the model shoot I have on Friday." He choked on his orange juice.  
  
"Already?" he gasped out.  
  
"Well, yea apparently."  
  
"Damn, Mark must really like you. I don't think I got my first shoot until about 2 weeks after I got here. And here you are getting one after 2 days!" he said, highly amazed.  
  
"Only because he did a modeling contest for A&F in Japan. He won, and so Mark thought he'd be perfect for drafting." Mimi concluded.  
  
"I thought you weren't talking to us." Justin raised his eyebrow. She growled again and ignored him.  
  
"Well, Mark must think you're really good if you have a shoot already."  
  
"Yea, I guess. That's kind of cool." I shrugged.  
  
"Don't you sound all enthusiastic about it." Justin said sarcastically.  
  
"Well, I don't know. What exactly I am suppose to do?"  
  
"What are you modeling for?"  
  
"The catalogue, I think."  
  
"Then you have it easy. All you do is go down there and they practically place you in want position they want. Dude, you are so lucky!" Justin ranted on.  
  
"If you say so, I don't know." I shrugged and continued eating.  
  
"Don't worry about it." He replied with a grin.  
  
"Don't worry about what?" a new voice entered our conversation. I looked behind me and saw a mess of blonde hair.  
  
"Never mind. Where have you been anyway?" Justin said and picked up his sister.  
  
"She was with me, Justin. Sorry about that." McKenzie replied for the little girl as she walked up to us. Justin just waved his hand and brushed it off.  
  
"You weren't giving Kenzie gray hair were you?" he sternly asked Tess.  
  
"No, why would I do that?" she said innocently. He shook his head and looked at McKenzie for a different answer.  
  
"She's no trouble at all. Really Justin, I think you over-react about her sometimes." McKenzie said to him. He rolled his eyes and Tess stuck her tongue out at him.  
  
"So where's Ryan?" Justin asked as McKenzie sat down.  
  
"You know how he is before a shoot. If he even tries to eat anything-"  
  
"It comes right back up." He finished for her.  
  
"Does he really get that nervous?" I asked warily. McKenzie turned and just realized I was there.  
  
"Oh hi, Tai. Didn't see ya there. And yes, he does get that nervous. He doesn't handle stress well." She said in one sentence.  
  
"Then why is he a model in the first place?" I asked.  
  
"Actually, he first came here for the photography program." She started out.  
  
"But Mark had a different idea. So he's now a model." Justin finished for her.  
  
"But he totally hates the shoots. Well, not really the shoots themselves, but just all the pressure and stress before them." Mimi added in.  
  
"Sad. So where is he right now?" I asked them.  
  
"Probably his training room." McKenzie replied.  
  
"Training room?" I echoed back to her.  
  
"Yea, his training room. It's where he meditates and escapes reality. Training his mind, really." She explained. She looked up and smiled.  
  
"On the other hand, maybe not right now. RYAN!" she yelled to get his attention. I just stared at her and poked Justin in the arm.  
  
"Is she always this odd?" I whispered in his ear. He shook his head and grinned slightly.  
  
"Nah, she just has a thing for him."  
  
"She likes him?"  
  
"Yup. And he's the only one who doesn't know about it." He replied as Ryan sat down.  
  
"Decided to join us for once?" Justin greeted him as he slid in next to McKenzie. He gave a small smile and shrugged.  
  
"No, I couldn't concentrate. Danny was in the weight room next to my training room, doing anything possible to wreck my focus." He said.  
  
"So why not tell him to bug off?" I suggested.  
  
"Nah, he'd kick my ass easily." He shook his head and sighed.  
  
"How you holding up, Ry?" Mimi asked him.  
  
"I'm ok. Really." He replied, even though his voice was shaking.  
  
"Whatever. We all know how you are before a shoot." McKenzie said teasingly.  
  
"Shut up McKenzie. Just because you're little Ms. 'Look at me because I told you to' doesn't mean that the rest of the world is like that."  
  
"That _really_ didn't make sense." She raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Whatever." He shot back and took a drink of Justin's orange juice.  
  
"Get your own." Justin exclaimed and grabbed the glass back while Ryan pouted.  
  
"Aw, come on Just, I need something to calm my nerves." He whined.  
  
"Ryan, you've been doing this for almost a year now. You shouldn't be nervous about it anymore."  
  
"I know, but I can't help it!" he whined again. Justin placed another glass in one of Ryan's hands and the pitcher in the other.  
  
"There ya go. Do it yourself, lazy bum." Justin said to him. Ryan glared at him and turned his attention to me.  
  
"So, heard you got a shoot." He said casually while sipping at his glass.  
  
"Yup, scheduled for Friday." Ryan nodded, then did a double take.  
  
"Say wha?"  
  
"Yup. That's what Mark told me."  
  
"How badly did you suck up to him?" Ryan grinned.  
  
"GAH! I DIDN'T SUCK UP! WHY IS EVERYONE ASKING ME THAT?" I yelled suddenly. Everyone burst out laughing.  
  
"It's just funny to think that you did." Ryan shrugged.  
  
"I didn't ok?"  
  
"All right, whatever you say." He looked down at his watch.  
  
"I better be going. See ya all at lunch." He said and got to his feet.  
  
"I'll come with you. You coming, Tai?" Mimi asked me. I nodded and got up too.  
  
"Might as well see what I'm getting myself into." I replied.  
  
"See you later." Justin said. I waved and turned around. I walked over to where Ryan was waiting for me.  
  
"I thought you didn't like eating before a shoot." I stated as I saw a couple of pieces of toast in his hand.  
  
"I don't." he replied slowly.  
  
"RYAN HARMAN I'M GOING TO GET YOU!" McKenzie's voice sounded throughout the hall.  
  
"I just enjoy hearing that." He grinned and started biting into a piece.  
  
"Ryan, did you steal her breakfast again?" Mimi asked as she walked out of the hall.  
  
"Maybe." He said innocently.  
  
"Whatever." She rolled her eyes and walked along the halls. We followed her around the building chatting about nothing really. We were climbing up the stairs when I suddenly tripped and fell.  
  
"Tai! Are you ok?" Mimi asked as she walked back towards me.  
  
"Yea, I'm ok. Ouch!" I winced as I tried to stand up.  
  
"Maybe not. What did I trip over?" I wondered out loud.  
  
"Hey guys, look at this." Ryan said and lifted up an invisible string. Except, you could see it when he was holding it up. Oh, you know what I mean!  
  
"I tripped over fishing line?" I said curiously.  
  
"Yea. Weird thing is, this wasn't here when I came downstairs for breakfast." Ryan said.  
  
"Can you stand up?" Mimi asked me. I slowly got to my feet.  
  
"It hurts a little though, but nothing's damaged badly." I replied.  
  
"It's like someone was waiting for Tai to come up here so they could trip him on purpose." Ryan commented thoughtfully. 'This guy kind of reminds me of Izzy.' I thought to myself.  
  
"Who would want to do that?" Mimi asked. Ryan shrugged.  
  
"Who knows. But we better get going. If anything else happens to Tai, then we should probably tell Mark." He said and started off down the halls again.  
  
"Can you walk on your own?" Mimi asked. I took a few steps and nodded.  
  
"Let's go." I said to her.  
  
"Damn it!" I stopped in my spot and looked at Mimi.  
  
"Did you say something?" I asked her. She shook her head.  
  
"No, why?" she questioned. I looked around and shook my head.  
  
"Never mind. Must be hearing things." I said slowly and started walking again. We walked into the room and saw Ryan talking to Mark and the camera guy.  
  
"Hey guys, I didn't know you were coming." Mark greeted us.  
  
"Yea, Tai wanted to see what he was doing and I just thought Ryan would like to have someone around. You know how he is sometimes." Mimi said as she sat down on the couch.  
  
"True, very true. Well, just sit back and what the heck happened to your ankle, Tai?" he changed the subject.  
  
"I tripped on the stairs." I replied and eased myself on the couch.  
  
"You should probably put ice on that. Let me go get you some." He volunteered and walked away.  
  
"Are you sure you're ok?" Mimi asked again.  
  
"Don't worry about me. I've had worse injuries then this." I replied as Mark came back.  
  
"Here you go. Now, just sit back and watch." Mark said as he handed me the ice bag.  
  
"Thanks Mark." He turned around and walked back to the camera guy and Ryan.  
  
"Don't you think you should have told him that you tripped on a wire?" Mimi suggested.  
  
"Nah, he doesn't need to worry about me. Besides, I think he has his hands full with Ryan." I smirked and pointed over to where he was. Ryan was on the verge of tears and Mark was arguing with the cameraman. But after all the struggle, they finally started the shoot. As I watched Ryan, I thought about how much I really wanted to do this. And how glad I am that I am doing this. Suddenly Ryan plopped down on the couch next to me.  
  
"Are you already done?" I asked him.  
  
"For right now. I'll probably have to come back in a few days. You guys wanna leave?" he asked as he got off the couch again. Mimi and I followed in suit and walked out of the room.  
  
"So now where should we go?" I asked them as we wandered around the halls.  
  
"I have an idea." Mimi replied and pulled out a bright pink cell phone. And when I say bright, I mean _bright_!  
  
"Hey, what're you doing? Yea, we just left. Is Kenzie still with you? Uh huh. How about we go to your room, as in all of us? Yea. Ok, see ya." She hung up her phone.  
  
"Going to Justin's?" Ryan asked.  
  
"Yup." Was the reply given as we headed towards our destination.  
  
"Hey, I'll meet you two there. I need to look for something in my room." I told them and headed down my hall.  
  
"Ok, see ya." Mimi called behind me. I walked into my apartment and looked in my dresser.  
  
"What? All my clothes are back." I said. 'That's really weird.' I thought as I walked into my bathroom. As soon as I opened the door however, a bucket of something dropped on my head. I yelped in surprise and pulled the bucket off. I finished up in the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Then I screamed.  
  
"OH MY GOD!" I yelled and looked at my reflection again.  
  
"DAMN IT!" I yelled again and ran down to Justin's apartment. I didn't bother knocking and just ran into it.  
  
"Tai, what's going on?" Justin asked me as he came out into the room followed by Ryan. Then his jaw dropped.  
  
"What happened to your hair?" he asked me and started examining it.  
  
"I walked into my bathroom and this bucket of blue paint dropped from the door and onto my head." I exclaimed. Ryan walked over and started looking too.  
  
"You know, it actually looks kind of cool." He commented.  
  
"Ryan. Shut up." Justin said as he tried to figure out how to get the blue out of my hair.  
  
"No it does! It looks like he put blue gel into his hair and streaked it." He said. The girls then walked in. McKenzie stared at me for a bit.  
  
"Have you always had blue streaks in your hair?" she asked me. Ryan gave me a look that clearly said, 'told-you-so'. Mimi gasped when she saw me.  
  
"What happened?" she exclaimed.  
  
"The old 'place a bucket of water on the door and wait for someone to walk in so it drops on their hair', except it was blue paint instead of water." Ryan said. Mimi raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Ryan, sometimes you put too much detail into things." She sighed.  
  
"Guys, what am I going to do?" I whined.  
  
"Looks like you'll just have to wait for it to wash out. It will.....eventually." McKenzie told me. I groaned and hit my head against the wall.  
  
"Why me?" I complained and slid into a chair. If I only knew what was to come.  
  
*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The next day was filled with even more fiascoes then the day before. First of all, I don't think I really looked at all of my clothes carefully when I realized they were back. I woke up and started getting ready. When I opened the drawers to get my clothes, I almost died. It was then I realized someone had tie-dyed (no pun intended on my name) all my clothes in pink and purple.  
  
"THIS IS NOT HAPPENING!" I moaned and walked down to Justin's with a set of clothes in my hand.  
  
"Justin, open up, it's me." I hollered through the door. He answered the door still in his pajamas.  
  
"What's going on?" he asked me.  
  
"I got my clothes back." I started out as I walked inside.  
  
"That's good." He yawned.  
  
"Did I just wake you up?" I asked as that thought dawned on me.  
  
"Uh huh. How'd you guess?" He blinked and sank onto his couch.  
  
"Because you're still half asleep. Plus you have bed hair, so that kind of gives it away." He started patting down his hair then gave up.  
  
"So would you like to tell me why you woke me up?" he stifled another yawn.  
  
"One, it's almost time for breakfast. And two, look." I showed him my clothes. His eyes widened and he burst into laughter.  
  
"It's not funny. What am I suppose to wear and how do I fix them?" I scolded him.  
  
"I'll let you borrow something and Mimi will probably be able to fix it." He said and got off the couch.  
  
"What makes you think she will be able to?" I asked him as I followed him into the bedroom.  
  
"Because she once dyed her clothes pink and Mark told her that she couldn't do that. So she had to fix them." He explained as he rummaged through his closet, throwing me a shirt, jeans and a pair of socks.  
  
"And you're _so_ on your own for boxers." He added.  
  
"Don't worry about it. Those are the only thing _not_ pink and purple." I said and walked out the door.  
  
"Thanks. Meet ya at breakfast." I said. He nodded and turned around, probably to go back to bed. Oh well, if that happens I'll send Mimi after him. I walked back to my apartment and walked in. Only to run right smack into Danny.  
  
"Watch where you're going, pipsqueak." He said harshly.  
  
"Excuse me? Pipsqueak?" I glared at him.  
  
"Yep. Like I said Kamiya, one toe out of line, you will regret it." He hissed and pushed me aside and shut the door.  
  
"Jackass." I murmured after him. I don't have time for this. I got dressed as fast as I could and walked down to breakfast.  
  
"And you're wearing Justin's clothes again because......?" Mimi trailed off.  
  
"Because my clothes are now girly tie-dye. Pink and purple. All of them expect my boxers." I replied and plopped down on the bench.  
  
"Where is he anyway?" McKenzie asked.  
  
"Probably went back to bed." I said and started eating.  
  
"Or not." Ryan said as he looked up.  
  
"Hey guys, sorry I'm late." Justin said as he sat down next to Mimi.  
  
"Did you ask her about the clothes thing?" he asked me.  
  
"OH! Hey Meems, do you think you could help me change all my clothes back so I don't have to keep wearing Justin's stuff?"  
  
"Sure, we will later ok?" I nodded and looked around the hall. Everyone was busy eating and talking to their friends. Everyone except one person. Danny glared at me then mouthed what looked like, "one toe and you'll regret it." I growled at him under my breath.  
  
"Who you growling at, T?" Mimi looked up and saw Danny flip me off. She sighed in disgust and rolled her eyes.  
  
"Dumb jock strap model." She said. McKenzie burst into giggles, Ryan shook his head and Justin rolled his eyes.  
  
"What?" I asked in shock.  
  
"Danny models A&F boxers." Mimi explained.  
  
"So we started saying he modeled jock straps too." Ryan added.  
  
"I really didn't need to know that. Definitely an over-share." I groaned and finished my breakfast. After breakfast we decided to walk around the building since none of us had anything to do that day.  
  
"Anyone want to go outside to the courtyard?" McKenzie suggested.  
  
"Courtyard?" I repeated after her.  
  
"Yup. Come on." She said and walked outside. Nice area really, with benches and grass and such. It also had a flagpole with the American flag and........oh no.  
  
"Tai? Aren't those yours?" Mimi asked me as she looked up to the flagpole.  
  
"Oh my gosh....." I muttered to myself. Not only was the American flag on the pole, waving underneath it were my Scooby Doo boxers. I looked around and at the door.  
  
"Cover me." I told the others and started scaling the flagpole.  
  
"Tai get down from there! You'll hurt yourself!" Mimi called after me. I sighed and hopped down.  
  
"Then what do you suggest I do, leave them up there?"  
  
"Actually, they add a nice touch."  
  
"RYAN! SHUT UP!" everybody yelled at him.  
  
"Hey, why don't we just bring the whole flag down? Then you can detach your boxers and put the flag back up." Justin suggested.  
  
"You know, that's not a bad idea. Cover me again." I said and started pulling the flag down slowly.  
  
"Tai, someone's coming. Hurry up!" Ryan called out. I hastily pulled my boxers off the pole and raised the flag back up.  
  
"What are you lot up to?" that same mocking voice came from behind me. I whirled around and glared at him.  
  
"What's it to you?" I sneered.  
  
"Oh nothing." He said calmly. Then he looked at my hands.  
  
"What's behind your back, Kamiya?" he asked.  
  
"Um....wait, that's none of your business!" I yelled at him. He reached around and yanked my boxers out of my hand.  
  
"Well, look what we have here. Up the flagpole were they?" he smiled cruelly.  
  
"Kiss my ass!" he smirked and shook his head.  
  
"You know, I'd love too but I can't. I must find the person responsible for this. That way I can congratulate them for such a perfect prank. Later losers!" he called out as he walked back inside the building.  
  
"WELL AT LEAST I'M NOT A JOCK STRAP MODEL!" I hollered back at his retreating form.  
  
"You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that Danny knew something about all of this." Mimi said as we started heading in the opposite direction.  
  
"What makes you think he doesn't?" I asked her, still furious about the whole idea.  
  
"He'd be so busted by Mark, that's why. He'd get kicked out of the program and sent back home." Ryan replied.  
  
"He'd get kicked out because of a couple of simple pranks?" Justin raised his eyebrow.  
  
"I wouldn't call those simple. I mean whoever is doing this- and don't jump to conclusions Tai- has to be pretty damn smart to pull all of this off." Justin voiced his opinion.  
  
"What do you mean?" McKenzie asked him.  
  
"Well, think about it. They must be timing all of this just right. Like, how they got into Tai's room and stole his clothes. Or how they returned them without Tai noticing. Or the paint. I seriously don't think Tai would go a whole day and not notice a can of blue paint on his door." Ryan nodded.  
  
"That makes sense. Same with the stairs. I know for a _fact_ that the fishing line wasn't there when I first went downstairs. Also, why did Tai trip? Mimi was in front of him. Therefore, she should have been the one to trip." Ryan concluded.  
  
"Watch what you say, Harman." Mimi said threateningly.  
  
"He's actually got a good point. That line would have had to been shot out across the stairs to trip Tai, but not Meems." McKenzie pointed out.  
  
"Well, whatever's going on will just have to ride out until tomorrow." Justin said as we walked into the building.  
  
"What makes you think this will all quit tomorrow?" I asked him. He looked at me and smirked.  
  
"Isn't it obvious, Tai? Someone's trying to sabotage your chance to do a shoot." He explained and led us to his apartment.  
  
"Why would anyone want to do that?" I asked as I opened the door. Suddenly something launched at me and landed on my face.  
  
"Guys, what just happened?" I addressed my friends. McKenzie walked up and licked my face.  
  
"Looks like you got hit in the face with a chocolate cream pie. Tastes pretty good too." She replied and started taking finger-fulls off my face.  
  
"STOP THAT!" I whined and backed away from her.  
  
"Well, I take back the sabotage your chances idea. Now I think whoever's doing all of this is just making fun of you." Justin said as he handed me a towel.  
  
"Hey, check out the pie tin!" Ryan got our attention and handed it to me.  
  
"Give up yet? Or you thirsty for more?" I read off the bottom of the pie.  
  
"Whoa. Whoever's behind all this is _really_ good at timing stuff. Like, how did he know that Tai would be the first one to walk into the door?" Mimi asked.  
  
"What makes you think a guy is doing this?" Justin answered with a question.  
  
"Because a girl would have more creative ideas. Besides, what girl would do anything to someone as cute as Tai?" McKenzie replied. I looked over at Ryan and saw him glaring at McKenzie.  
  
"Looks like someone's jealous." I whispered to Justin and tilted my head towards Ryan. Justin grinned and turned back to Mimi.  
  
"Ok, so _he_ is too good at his timing to be coincidence. He must be practically following us around and watching Tai." He said as he sat down.  
  
"Wouldn't we see him though if that was the case?" I asked him. Mimi shook her head.  
  
"We would, unless he's using the passages." She said thoughtfully.  
  
"What passages?" I questioned her.  
  
"There are different places used for shortcuts. This place is built kind of like Hogwarts. You know, the school in Harry Potter. So maybe he's using the shortcuts to escape before we can see who he is." McKenzie suggested.  
  
"Who knows? All I know is that you just better watch yourself Tai. No telling what this guy is capable of." Justin warned me.  
  
"You've got a good point. But whatever, I can take this guy." I said cockily. Justin grinned and turned on the TV, causing everyone to stop worrying about it.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Everything seemed quiet after the pie thing. Well ok, maybe not quiet, but normal. There hadn't been any more pranks since then. And I was ecstatic about it.  
  
"Ha, what'd I tell ya? I knew he'd get bored with me soon." I said happily as we walked down to dinner.  
  
"I wouldn't be too sure, Tai. I bet he's planning to get you later on tonight, when you're least expecting it." Ryan replied and sat down on a bench.  
  
"Don't you _dare_ jinx me, Harman. Besides, what would he do?" I said and started helping myself to food.  
  
"For once, Ryan's got a good point though." Justin cut in.  
  
"Yea, for once I....hey, what do you mean for once?!" Ryan exclaimed as he realized what Justin was implying. Justin rolled his eyes and started eating.  
  
"If all of this ends tomorrow, I'll be so glad. I can't stand the blue hair." I told them.  
  
"I think it looks great, Tai." McKenzie complimented me. I grinned and glanced and Ryan. 'He's glaring again.' I thought to myself. Justin saw this too and changed the subject.  
  
"What's everybody up to tomorrow?" he asked casually.  
  
"I have a shoot." I replied.  
  
"Meems and I are going to train the younger kids. Like your sister and her age kids." McKenzie said.  
  
"What about you, Ryan?" Justin asked the young brunette. He didn't reply as he continued to toy with his food.  
  
"Ryan?" Mimi called. Finally McKenzie sighed in exasperation and leaned over the table.  
  
"Earth to Ryan Harman!" she said and waved her hand in front of his face. He looked up slowly and jumped. He fell out of his seat and landed on the floor. People around us started laughing as Justin pulled him up by the neck of his shirt.  
  
"What?" he asked.  
  
"You are such a dork you know that?" McKenzie said and started talking to Mimi again. His face faltered a bit but then turned into a look of anger.  
  
"Bitch." He murmured under his breath.  
  
"Anyway, what are you doing tomorrow, Ry?" Justin asked him. He shrugged and glared at McKenzie.  
  
"I don't know. I'll probably just hang out at my apartment." He replied and shifted his eyes to his plate.  
  
"Think someone's got a crush on Kenzie?" Justin whispered into my ear. I nodded and took a bite of food. Then I choked on it. I started coughing and gagging.  
  
"Tai, what's going on?" Justin asked. I didn't respond and bolted from the table. I knew Justin and Ryan had followed anyway. I ran into the bathroom and continued coughing.  
  
"Damn, what's he choking on?" Ryan asked as I clawed at my throat. Then an idea struck me. I stopped coughing long enough to stick my finger down my throat and threw up. That's when I caught a glimpse of something small and shiny.  
  
"A marble?" I said as I gasped to get my breath back. Ryan peered over my shoulder and shuddered.  
  
"Gross." He said softly and backed away.  
  
"A bit squeamish are we?" Justin teased and walked over to me.  
  
"How the hell did you choke on a marble?" he asked me. I shrugged and washed everything but the marble down the sink.  
  
"It was in my food." I replied.  
  
"Told you. The same person who's pulling pranks on you caught you off- guard." Ryan said and walked back over to us.  
  
"Yea, but that time he went too far. What if Tai had actually choked on the marble?"  
  
"Justin, I did choke on the marble." I sweatdropped.  
  
"I know, but I mean, what if you didn't get it back out? What if it had cut off your air or something? Tai, something as simple as a marble could have killed you!" Justin said fiercely. We started walking back to the eating hall.  
  
"He's right, Tai. Someone's really out to get you." Ryan added. I nodded and suddenly felt light-headed. I'm not sure what happened, but I didn't even feel myself walking anymore.  
  
"Justin grab him!" Ryan yelled. Justin ran forward and caught me before my head hit the ground.  
  
"You ok?" he asked. I nodded slowly and sat up.  
  
"I'm fine. Just sort of light-headed." I replied and watched everything spin in front of me.  
  
"Sure whatever. Ryan, help me here." He instructed. They placed their arms under me and basically dragged me back to the table where I collapsed again.  
  
"Tai, are you ok?" Mimi asked as she jumped over next to me.  
  
"What happened guys?" McKenzie asked us.  
  
"He choked on a marble. We think the same person pranking him put it in there." Ryan explained as he handed me a glass of water.  
  
"A marble?" Mimi repeated. I placed the marble in her hand.  
  
"That's just going too far. He could have choked to death." McKenzie stated as she rubbed my back in small circles.  
  
"I don't think whoever's pulling all this shit wants him dead. Just out of the way. But that is going too far. I vote we tell Mark or somebody." Justin suggested. The other 3 nodded in agreement.  
  
"Guys, if he's just trying to stop my shoot, it'll be over by tomorrow." I said.  
  
"True, but what if it doesn't stop there? What if they want to totally sabotage your career?" McKenzie said.  
  
"It probably won't."  
  
"Probably isn't good enough, Tai." Mimi backed her up.  
  
"It's fine guys! Quit worrying!"  
  
"I don't care what you say, Tai. I'm telling Mark." Ryan said and got up from the table.  
  
"Ryan, wait a second!" I called after him, but he was already out of hearing distance.  
  
"You sure you're ok?" Mimi asked me.  
  
"Yea, I'm ok. I think I'm just gonna go to bed. Catch up with you guys later." I said and got up from the table.  
  
"Ok, you need to visit Mark right after breakfast so don't forget about that. And I'll re-dye your clothes tonight." Mimi said to me.  
  
"Thanks Meems. See ya later." I walked away from the table just as Ryan started coming back.  
  
"Stupid nark." I whirled around. But no one was behind me. 'Must be even more tired then I thought.' I thought to myself and walked into my apartment. I walked into my bedroom and collapsed on my..........floor?  
  
"What the hell?" I sat up. My bed was gone!  
  
"Now how the _hell_ does someone get rid of a bed without anyone noticing?" I asked myself and walked down to Justin's apartment. He and the others were still down at dinner. 'Oh well, I'll catch up with them tomorrow.' I thought as I flopped down on his couch and drifted off.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Tai. Tai, wake up." Someone poked my arm. I groaned and slowly opened my eyes.  
  
"Is it morning already?" I sat up and yawned.  
  
"Yup. Mind telling me why you're in my apartment and on my couch?" Justin asked me as he sat down.  
  
"When I went to bed last night, I realized I didn't _have_ a bed." He raised an eyebrow.  
  
"They took your bed?" he said doubtfully.  
  
"They took my bed. Although, it's probably back by now." I replied and got off the couch.  
  
"Let's go look." He got off the couch and walked down to my apartment. He walked into my bedroom and suddenly stopped.  
  
"What's the holdup?" I asked and looked around him. And screamed.  
  
"NO WAY!" I yelled and attacked my bed.  
  
"WHAT THE HELL? ANYTHING BUT HELLO KITTY!" I shouted and started ripping off the covers.  
  
"Hello Kitty? Now I think they're just trying to embarrass you." He said and started helping me.  
  
"I thought I escaped that damn kitty!" I growled under my breath.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"My sister used to be _obsessed_ with Hello Kitty. All over her half of the room." I opened the window and prepared to throw the covers out the window.  
  
"Wait a sec, Tai. These are my sister's bed sheets." He stated as he examined them closer.  
  
"Tess?"  
  
"Yup. Because here's the nail polish stain she got on them when she tried painting her nails." He pointed at a purple stain.  
  
"So, do you think Tess has my covers?" I asked him.  
  
"Worth a try. Let's go." He led me back to his apartment with Hello Kitty in tow.  
  
"Where has Tess been anyway? She hasn't been in your apartment lately." I asked him.  
  
"She's been spending the night in one of her friends' apartment. Besides, 'You get annoying after a while.'" He mimicked her.  
  
"She said that?"  
  
"Yup, but what could I expect? I'm just the older brother/parental figure." He walked into Tess's room.  
  
"Um.....I don't think these are yours are they?" he asked me. I looked inside and launched myself at the bed.  
  
"AGH! These _are_ my covers. But someone trashed them!" I exclaimed and examined my covers. They _used_ to be dark blue, and they still were. However, now they had words like, "loser" and "wimp" printed in red and neon orange paint.  
  
"This is not cool. I refuse, absolutely _refuse_ to sleep in these." I informed him.  
  
"Whatever, we don't have time. Breakfast, now." He said and dragged me out of his apartment and downstairs.  
  
"Hey guys, about time you got here. Where was he?" McKenzie asked Justin.  
  
"My couch." Mimi gave me a strange look.  
  
"My bed was gone when I went upstairs last night." I said. More strange looks. Justin explained everything to them.  
  
"Hello Kitty?" Ryan raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Tess's bed sheets. Then mine were in her room and totally sabotaged."  
  
"Oh well, we'll fix it later. You have a shoot today, just remember that." Mimi reminded me.  
  
"I remember, don't worry." I started to eat breakfast. Everything was normal for once. Ryan and McKenzie were arguing. Today's subject was about which anime was better: Dragon Ball Z or BeyBlade. Mimi and Justin were talking about the weekend. I glanced at my watch and sighed.  
  
"Hey guys, I better go. I'll see you all later, I'm already late." I got up from my spot and started walking.  
  
"See ya. Take the shortcut through the courtyard it's short." Mimi called after me and resumed her discussion with Justin. That actually rhymed. I walked outside and enjoyed myself.  
  
"It's too quiet. There's got to be something up!" I cried out as I got my foot stuck in something. The next thing I knew, I was hanging upside down from the flagpole.  
  
"HEY! SOMEBODY GET ME DOWN FROM HERE!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.  
  
"This bites." I murmured to myself. I looked at my watch again. Damn, 10 minutes late already. Then I felt something in my pocket.  
  
"Thank god Justin left his cell in his pocket." I dialed a number as the blood began to rush to my head.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Mimi, go outside into the courtyard. Now."  
  
"Tai, what's going on?"  
  
"Just go! Bye." I hung up and zipped the phone into my pocket. I watched the doors and soon saw my friends come outside.  
  
"Tai, how'd you get up there?" Mimi yelled as she ran towards the pole.  
  
"How should I know? I stepped on a rope or something and now I'm stuck!"  
  
" It's like something in one of those cartoons." Ryan said in awe.  
  
"RYAN JUST SHUT UP!" Mimi and McKenzie said at the same time.  
  
"How do you think we should get him down?" Justin asked.  
  
"Very slowly and carefully?" I suggested.  
  
"Hey, why don't we pull the flag down? Look closer." McKenzie pointed at the rope. Sure enough I was attached to the flag itself.  
  
"I'm on it." Justin said as he started to bring the flag down. When I was close enough to the ground, he untied me and I jumped down.  
  
"Tai, you better go. You are _so_ late. I'll come with you." Mimi said and dragged me to the photo room.  
  
"Mark, sorry we're late." I apologized to him as we burst into the room.  
  
"What was the hold-up guys?" he asked as he led me over to the camera guy.  
  
"I got attached to the flag pole." I said and explained what happened.  
  
"Ryan told me some weird things were going on. I'll fix it tomorrow. But now, we need to start. Go put these on." He threw me a pair of jeans and a tank top. I looked at the shirt and looked at him.  
  
"Mark? You might want to look at the shirt." I showed him. Instead of the white Abercrombie & Fitch label, it had asshole &......well, you know.  
  
"Well.....I didn't see that there this morning. But luckily, I have another one." He handed me the second one and took the first. As soon as I was dressed, I walked back over to where Mark was talking to the camera guy. Except, the camera guy was a 16-year-old kid.  
  
"Good, you're back. Tai, I want you to meet Jason. He's one of the best in the photography program." Mark introduced me.  
  
"Nice to meet you." I shook his hand.  
  
"Likewise. You ready to start?" he asked.  
  
"Yup. Tell me what to do." I grinned. He returned the smile and walked over to me. He started positioning me until he was satisfied.  
  
"Perfect. Hold it." He said and shot the picture. He frowned and shot it again.  
  
"What's up?" I asked him.  
  
"That's weird. I thought I had a full roll of film. But it says it's empty. Oh well." He shrugged and pulled a new roll out of his pocket.  
  
"Try this again." He shot the picture and grinned. And the shoot went on for some time, perfectly ordinary.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~~*  
  
The end of the day came sooner then expected. And I welcomed it with open arms. I didn't even bother with dinner and went straight to my room. As I entered the main area I ran into Danny again.  
  
"Hey Tai, anymore pranks show up today?" he laughed at me.  
  
"Piss off, Dalton." I said and walked towards my room.  
  
"Whatever, Kamiya. But let me say this. You make a crummy flag." He said and shoved a photo under my nose.  
  
"HEY! GIVE ME THAT!" He swiped it away before I could reach it.  
  
"And miss the opportunity to totally mortify you? I think not. Sleep tight." He said and walked away laughing. At me.  
  
"Grr.....evil jackass." I growled after him and flopped down on my bed.  
  
"Looks like Mimi fixed my bed for me. I'll thank her later." I got up and wandered over to my dresser.  
  
"Looks like she dyed my clothes back to normal too. Thank you god." I said and pulled off my shirt and jeans. Screw sleeping in pajamas, it's too hot. 'I'm definitely going to have to tell Matt about this week. He'll never believe it. Plus he'll laugh like a hyena.' I made a mental note and climbed into bed.  
  
"If I can survive this week, I can survive anything." I thought aloud and drifted off into a peaceful, normal sleep.  
  
****************************************************************************  
  
This is the LOOOOOOOOOOONGEST chapter I have ever written for anything! 25 pages of model pranks. Like I said before, not sure when I'll update next, but it will be a chapter in Yama's POV.  
  
Matt: About time too. Thought you forgot about me.  
  
Ryamon: We tried.  
  
Ryamon! Shut up! Anyway, that's all for now people. I'm leaving in..*checks time* 3 ½ hours. Wish me luck! See ya laterz! 


	4. Wondering

Hey everybody! I can actually update on my trip. Although I must say, it's weird using notepad instead of M. word. Anyway, time to answer those reviews you wonderful people sent in.  
  
Ryamon: You are such a suck up you know that?  
  
Shut up. So, let's begin.  
  
CCPheonix: You're going to kill me? Or Danny? lol. I'll try to put in more Tyce then, since u like her so much. And I updated before the compeition, which is tmmrw! lol.   
  
vialana: It was hilairous huh? Thanks, i loved writing it. Ryan's my fave too. He's soo cute! And here's Yama. Austrailia huh? AWESOME!!!  
  
PA & DA: Danny's a prick. I hate him. lol. Everyone thinks Matt should kick his ass. Thanks. I like my talent. lol  
  
Angel Chick: Danny's very obvious. And Tai will in this chapter.  
  
Sillie: Danny is the main suspect. But who can blame ppl for thinking so? Bad bastard  
  
nEo-cHaN: hee hee. Glad you like it. It was a bit TOO long. But oh well.  
  
Angel Ran: I wouldn;t live thru it. But then again, that's why I made it like this for Tai. Yea, it's about time we heard from Matt. Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it.  
  
Aero-Grrl: I agree totally. He HAS a bodyguard..........just ignore the fact that he's in another continent. =D You adore it? I feel so special.  
  
Well,that's about it. Sorry if this chapter seems shorter. Hope you enjoy it all the same! Oh, and as a lil' FYI  
  
Ryamon: IV doesn't own Good Charlotte, Simple Plan, or any of their songs.  
  
**************************************************************************************  
  
I can't believe it. It's been 3 whole weeks since he left and has he even bothered to contact me? Of course not. I sighed and lost myself in my thoughts.  
  
"Ne, Yamato. You ok?" Rei asked me.  
  
"Nothing." I murmured back to him. He raised an eyebrow.  
  
"What's wrong with you?" Dawson asked. I shrugged and started doodling again. Jamie got up from behind his drums and walked behind me.  
  
"Isn't it obvious?" he said and grabbed my paper. I was suppose to be writing lyrics for our newest song, but I didn't get very far. It mostly consisted of Tai's name all over the page, along with stuff like, "Matt and Tai 4ever." and his name in a heart. Stuff like that.  
  
"He misses Tai." Jamie explained to them.  
  
"Matt, get over it. He's coming back in like, 2 months." Kenji reminded me.  
  
"Yea, it's not like it's the end of the world." Rei said.   
  
"Shut up. You have no idea what this is like." I growled at him.  
  
"Ooh, someone's touchy." he replied mockingly.   
  
"Piss off!" I yelled and tackled him. Kenji and Dawson jumped up and pulled us apart.  
  
"Come on guys, knock it off!" Dawson shouted and pulled Rei out.  
  
"Not my fault Matt's PMSy." Rei growled as he held his bleeding nose. Kenji held me up by my collar.  
  
"What the hell's up with you anyway, Ishida?" Kenji asked me. I blinked in surprise and realized what I'd done. I just attacked Rei for no reason. I panicked.  
  
"Sorry guys, I feel sorta sick." I blurted out and bolted from Dawson's garage. I didn't bother looking back, I just ran to my apartment. When I got there however, I realized I couldn't run anymore.  
  
"There's something else going on isn't there?" Jamie confronted me. I shook my head and collapsed on my doormat.   
  
"Oh whoa." Jamie called out surprised and lifted me to my feet.  
  
"Come on, Mato. Inside with you." He said and dragged me inside onto my couch.  
  
"So what's going on?" he asked me as he sat down next to me.  
  
"It's nothing." I mumbled and looked at the floor.  
  
"Liar. I know you better then the rest of the band. I know something's bugging you. So what's wrong?" he said and forced me to look at him.  
  
"It's nothing important. It's ok." I replied and placed a plastic smile on my face.  
  
"That is a bunch of bullshit Matt and you know it as well as I do. Something's very wrong if it's upsetting you to the point where you can't even concentrate." I sighed and hung my head.  
  
"It's just that..........it's been almost a whole month now. He hasn't called me or emailed me. No way of letting me know what's going on. I thought I was important to him. It seems selfish, but I feel sort of abandoned." I spilled out.  
  
"Well, maybe he's been busy. You never know." Jamie comforted me.  
  
"What if he met someone over in New York and forgot about me?" I said in a whisper.  
  
"Matt, he's not going to forget about you. You two are best friends, lovers, everything! He's not going to replace you. You need to not be so insecure. It could truly destroy you."   
  
"Yea, maybe you're right." Jamie grinned in triumph.  
  
"See? And besides, he has the ring." he referred to the piece of jewelry on my neck with a chain.  
  
"Yea. You're right. Thank Jamie." I grinned at my drummer.  
  
"No prob. I'll tell the others you'll be back in a while. To have time to recollect yourself." he said and headed for the door.  
  
"Ok. See you all in a while." I called after him. He waved and walked out. I sighed and laid down on my couch.  
  
"Wonder if he misses me. Wonder if he cares. Wonders if he still loves me." I said to myself and sighed.   
  
"I am so pathetic." I murmured and got off my couch.  
  
"Oh well. I'm happy wondering. That way I can pretend he still does." I walked into my kitchen. Then I suddenly stopped in my steps.  
  
"Wondering........that's it!" I said excitedly and ran back to my couch. I frantically found a piece of paper to write down everything. It took me a good while to figure everything out, but finally I was satisfied. I jumped off my couch and ran back to Dawson's apartment. As I reached his garage, I heard some shouting and arguing and stopped outside to listen.  
  
"He needs to get over it. It's totally ruining his concentration and his work pace." Kenji stated.  
  
"Yea, but can you really blame him though?" Rei asked.  
  
"He's acting like a total idiot!" Kenji argued back.  
  
"He loves Tai. Tai's gone. It's probably very painful for him. Give him some time." Dawson put in.  
  
"He's HAD time. It's been 3 whole weeks! He's turning into some sentimental sap!" Kenji yelled back.  
  
"So what? Matt's always been sort of sensitive. You should know that. And think about this. He's been through a lot in his life, what with his parent's divorce and being seperated from his brother. Shit happens. Matt's the kind of person who need someone to stablize him so he doesn't do something stupid." Rei said.  
  
"He's wimping out in general." Kenji said hotly.  
  
"No he's not. Tai and him have been friends for years. They've never been apart for this long. It's hard for him." Dawson replied angerily.  
  
"It's all Tai's fault. If he hadn't turned Matt into some damn fag, this conversation wouldn't be happening right now." Kenji said.  
  
"Are you against Tai and Matt's realationship?" Jamie suddenly interjected.  
  
"No, I just don't think it's...............well, normal." Kenji replied.  
  
"What are you talking about, Kenji? Matt is still the same Matt! Who cares if it's normal?" Jamie erupted.  
  
"Well, it might be bads for the band's name. I mean, 3/4 of our fanbase are crazed fangirls lusting after Matt! What will happen to the band's popularity if they find out he's a fag?" Kenji explained calmly.  
  
"WILL YOU STOP CALLING HIM A FAG?" Jamie snapped suddenly. My blood started to boil.  
  
"Well, what do you want me to call him? It's true. Our greatest problem USED to be how to transport the drums. Now it's how to tell the world that our lead singer is a friggin' pansy!" Kenji vented. I walked behind him and cleared my throat. He turned around and his eyes widened.  
  
"Matt. Uh, hey. I-uh- didn't know you were here." he stammered. I sneered at him.  
  
"You have a problem with me being the way I am, do you?" I glared at him.  
  
"Well, no. What makes you think that?" he asked me all innocent-like.  
  
"Don't you DARE lie to me. I heard EVERYTHING!" I yelled at him.  
  
"Well, maybe if you weren't so feminine acting now, we wouldn't have a problem." he shouted back.  
  
"You know what? Out." I pointed to the door.   
  
  
  
"Excuse me?" he replied cooly.  
  
"You heard me Kenji. Get out. Now. You're out of this band. You have a problem with me, then you don't need to be hear." I explained to him. His eyes narrowed.  
  
"I have a better idea. Why don't YOU get out? We don't need a fag like yourself here. Just brings down our ratings." he mocked me. I felt tears of fury well up in my eyes.  
  
"Do you really think of me like that?" I asked him.   
  
"Well, it's true, Yamato. I can't help it if you're just a queer Barbie doll." he smirked. Suddenly he was punched in the face by Jamie.  
  
"You know what? Shut the hell up Kenji. Matt's not a queer and if you EVER say anything like that about him again, you'll have to answer to me. Now get out." Jamie hissed.   
  
"You can't tell me what to do." Kenji growled back. Dawson walked up to him and got in his face.  
  
"You're right, he can't." he said. Kenji smirked at Jamie.  
  
"But I can." he hissed.  
  
"What do you think YOU could do?" Kenji asked him.  
  
"Well, this is my garage. Meaning this is my property. Meaning, if I don't want you here, you're trespassing. I could call the police. And you wouldn't want that would you?" he asked him slowly and menacingly. Kenji shook his head.  
  
"Then get out. And never come back." Dawson whispered dangerously and kicked him out. I watched silently in disbelief.  
  
"You ok?" Jamie asked me. I just stared at the door.  
  
"I feel so...........betrayed." My voice shook and the tears of hurt spilled from my eyes. Jamie walked over and hugged me. That's just sort of weird because Jamie's not real sentimental.  
  
"Just ignore him, Matt. Kenji's just a homophobic bastard." Rei said. I wanted to believe him, but I just continued crying.  
  
"What's wrong, Mato?" Dawson asked me.  
  
"What if he's right? What if the ratings go down? What if the world doesn't want to except the fact that I'm.........." I trailed off.  
  
"What if, that's all they are. You don't know what people are going to say or do. Not all people are like Kenji." Jamie comforted me.  
  
"I'm sorry I'm a queer. I'm sorry everything's going to slowly deteriorate." I said quietly. Dawson grabbed my chin and made me face him.  
  
"Ok first off, you are NOT a queer, all right? Kenji's just a dumbass, don't listen to him." Dawson said sternly.  
  
"Second off, things aren't going to deteriorate. Everything's going to be fine." Rei took over. I shook my head.  
  
"Guys, we just lost the keyboard player. That's NOT a good thing." I reminded them.  
  
"Who cares? All he ever did was sit on his ass and watch us do everything. We don't need him." Jamie said. I slowly nodded and wiped my eyes.  
  
"You're right. We'll manage it." I said with a shaky smile.  
  
"That's the spirit!" Rei smiled brightly. I laughed a little and smiled again.  
  
"So, what's going on? What made you come back?" Dawson asked me as we sat down on the couch and in chairs.   
  
"OH! I finished the lyrics." I said happily and handed them copies. Jamie shrugged and stood up.  
  
"Ok then, let's try it out." he said and walked over to his drums. The others got in their spots and I got out my guitar. I left it at Dawson's anyway, so it worked out perfectly. I started playing and the others followed me.  
  
If you want me to wait, I would wait for you  
  
If you want me to stay, I would stay right thru  
  
If you don't wanna say anything at all  
  
I'm happy wondering  
  
Go!  
  
(Yeah, yeah)  
  
Since I was a young man I never was a fun man  
  
I never had a plan and no security  
  
Then ever since I met you I never could forget you  
  
I only get you right here next to me  
  
'Cause everybody (a-whoa-oh-oh) needs someone that they can trust and...  
  
And you're somebody (a-whoa-oh-oh) that I found just in time  
  
If you want me to wait, I would wait for you  
  
If you want me to stay, I would stay right thru  
  
If you don't wanna say anything at all  
  
I'm happy wondering  
  
Now my life is changing, it's always rearranging  
  
Always getting stranger than I thought it ever could  
  
Ever since I found you, I wanna be around you  
  
I wanna get down to the point that I need you  
  
'Cause everybody (a-whoa-oh-oh) needs someone that they can trust and...  
  
And you're somebody (a-whoa-oh-oh) that I found just in time  
  
If you want me to wait, I would wait for you  
  
If you want me to stay, I would stay right thru  
  
If you don't wanna say anything at all  
  
I'm happy wondering  
  
Go!  
  
(Yeah, yeah)  
  
(Yeah, yeah)  
  
Don't tell me  
  
The bad news  
  
Don't tell me anything at all  
  
Just tell me  
  
That you need me  
  
And stay right here with me  
  
If you want me to wait, I would wait for you  
  
If you want me to stay, I would stay right thru  
  
If you don't wanna say anything at all  
  
I'm happy wondering  
  
If you want me to wait, I would wait for you  
  
If you want me to stay, I would stay right thru  
  
If you don't wanna say anything at all  
  
I'm happy wondering   
  
I finished playing and looked at the band.  
  
"So, what did you think?" I asked them.  
  
"Dude.............if this is what Tai does to your work, I SAY GET MARRIED TO THE GUY!" Dawson said excitedly.  
  
"You like it?" Jamie nodded.  
  
"Of course, it absolutely rocked." Rei added.  
  
"Thanks guys. I say that we call it quits for today and meet up again in about 3 days. Give us time to practice it." I suggested and packed up my guitar.  
  
"Sounds good, Matt. We'll see ya later." Jamie waved as I walked out of the door. I walked back to my apartment and sat at my computer.  
  
"Might as well check." I said to no one as I opened my msn account. I blinked a few times and stared at the email waiting for me.  
  
"About damn time." I said and opened it.  
  
from: leader_boi7@hotmail.com  
  
to:blonde_werewolf@msn.com  
  
subject: WASSUP!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?  
  
Hey Matt,  
  
did you know that your hotmail account is locked up? I tried sending you email a while ago and it said that it couldn't be delivered. So I figured, ok, might as well try this account.  
  
Anyway, how have you been? So sorry I haven't called or written or anything, I've been super busy. Who'd thought being a model would be so hard? The first week was hell. Or actually the first 3 days. In those 3 days, I had my clothes stolen, tripped on a wire hurting my ankle, had a bucket of blue paint fall on my head, had my boxers run up the flagpole (I could have been in them so it's not that bad.),  
  
got hit in the face with a chocolate pie, got my clothes back but they were tye-dyed pink and purple, chocked on a marble, had my bed stolen, got bed returned with hello kitty bed covers (the kitty is evil!), my covers had graffeti all over them, got sent up the flagpole so I hung upside down for a while, and ahh, it was just hectic.  
  
Hope you've been doing better then I have. How is everybody over there? How's the band doing? Gods, I miss you SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much, you have no clue. Now that I have some down time, I might be able to get on msn chat or call or something.  
  
Well, I better get going. Love ya lots and miss ya like hell. I'll get in touch soon.  
  
Love ya always, Tai.  
  
Well, at least he still cares. I saved the email and deleted everything else. I started working on another song for the band. I nearly jumped out of my skin when the phone rang.  
  
"Hello?"  
  
"Did I scare ya or something?"   
  
"Tai?"  
  
"The one and only super boyfriend." I rolled my eyes.  
  
"Don't roll your eyes at me. It's not nice." I stared at the phone.  
  
"You know me too well don't you?" I asked as I walked over to the couch.  
  
"Of course. Anyway, what's up?"   
  
"I should be asking you that, Mr. Model. Things are normal here. What's going on in New York?  
  
"Not a whole lot. But I've been busy."  
  
"So you told me."  
  
"So you did get my email?"  
  
"Yea, and I have no clue why my hotmail's not working. It should now."  
  
"Ok. I'll look into that later."  
  
"Yea. Isn't this going to cost a lot?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"This call. VERY long-distance."   
  
"I'm not paying for it and neither are you."  
  
"How does that work out?"   
  
"I made the call, so you pay nothing. And the company is paying for me."  
  
"That's pretty cool."  
  
"Yea. So what's wrong?"   
  
"Huh?"  
  
"I can tell something's wrong, Matt. So spill."  
  
"It's nothing. Don't worry about it."  
  
"Liar. I know you too well. You can tell me."  
  
"It's just...................." I trailed off and sighed.  
  
"It's what, Mato?"   
  
"Kenji quit. Or more like Dawson, Jamie, Rei and I kicked him out."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"He was talking shit about me. He had a problem with me. I kicked him out. My band after all."  
  
"What did he say?"  
  
"The band's popularity will go down if the fanbase finds out I'm gay. And that it's your fault that's I'm a fag."  
  
"I AM GOING TO KICK HIS ASS WHEN I GET BACK!"  
  
"Don't bother. He's not worth it."  
  
"There's something else. What else is going through your mind?"  
  
"I don't know. What if he's right?"  
  
"Of course he's not right. Hell, it'll probably make you MORE popular."  
  
"What makes you think that?"  
  
"Think about it, Matt. How many gay guys actually let on that they are gay?"  
  
"Christopher Lowell."  
  
"He's just plain weird though. He acts WAY too fagish at times."  
  
"Ok, so then not a whole lot."  
  
"Exactly. So if you tell people, you'll grow popular BECAUSE you told the truth."  
  
"You suck at lying you know that?"  
  
"I'm not. Just stating the facts."  
  
"Whatever, can we just drop it?"  
  
"Sure. Anyways, how's everybody doing?"  
  
"Pretty good. Kari misses you a lot. TK's glad to have the chance to be with her more and cheer her up. Um.......Izzy's at his computer classes in Kyoto. Sora's bummed that you're not around. And i don't know."  
  
"That's good enough for me."  
  
"Yea."  
  
"You still sound like you're bummed out. What's up?"  
  
"Forget it."  
  
"MATT! FOR GODS SAKE WHY DO YOU FO THIS?"  
  
"DO WHAT?"  
  
"Hide everything from everybody. You never tell people what you're feeling or thinking unless they threaten you or something."  
  
"I just do. It's safer that way."  
  
"Matt, do you trust me?"   
  
"Of course I do. You should know that."  
  
"Then why don't you ever want me to know anything?"  
  
"I just............I don't know."  
  
"So, tell me. What's been buggin ya?"  
  
"It's just.........I suppose I felt like you didn't care about me. I mean, you had time to write Kari."  
  
"Matt, Kari's my sister, that's different. Besides, like I said, I tried to email you."  
  
"Yea. I guess." I sighed and closed my eyes.  
  
"Oh come on, you're not mad are you?"  
  
"Tai, you COULD have called. Or you COULD have tried the other email address sooner."  
  
"I'm sorry ok? I'm not as smart as you."   
  
"Tai, you don't get it."  
  
"What don't I get?"  
  
"It's been 3 whole weeks. I hadn't heard from you at all. What if something had happened to you?" I choked out.  
  
"Shh. Hey, nothing happened to me all right? I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset ya this much, hun."  
  
"Kenji's right. I've become an overly sentimental bastard."   
  
"Kenji is a douchebag. And besides, I like you as a sentimental guy." I laughed and wiped my eyes.  
  
"Yea..................thanks Tai."  
  
"No problem. But I have to get going. It's about 11:30 at night over here."   
  
"All right." I sighed.  
  
"Oh, stop pouting. I'll call or email you later."  
  
"Ok. Talk to you soon."  
  
"Kay. Love ya."  
  
"Love you too."  
  
"Bye. I miss you."  
  
"Miss you too. Bye." I hung up the phone with a dreamy smile. I was in heaven and my angel had returned to me.   
  
"Well, not really returned, but he's well." I said to myself and walked into my room. I flipped on my radio and plopped down on my bed. I pulled out a piece of paper and decided to write Tai a letter. I got as far as "Dear Tai," and got stuck. So I stopped and listened to the radio.  
  
The song playing was a good one, by Simple Plan. I think it's called "I'd Do Anything."  
  
Another day is going by  
  
I'm thinking about you all the time  
  
but you're out there and I'm here waiting  
  
and I wrote this letter  
  
in my head caz so many things were left unsaid  
  
but now you're gone and I can't think straight  
  
this could be the one last chance to make you understand  
  
I'd do anything   
  
just to hold you in my arms  
  
try to make you laugh   
  
somehow I can't put you in the past  
  
I'd do anything   
  
just to fall asleep with you  
  
will you remember me   
  
caz i know i won't forget you  
  
together we break all the rules   
  
dreamin' of dropping out of school  
  
and leave this place   
  
and never come back  
  
so now maybe after all these years  
  
if you missed me have no fear  
  
I'll be here   
  
I'll be waiting  
  
this could be the one last chance to make you understand  
  
and I just can't let u leave me once again  
  
I'd do anything   
  
just to hold you in my arms  
  
try to make you laugh   
  
somehow I can't put you in the past  
  
I'd do anything   
  
just to fall asleep with you  
  
will you remember me   
  
caz I know I won't forget you  
  
I close my eyes  
  
and all I see is you  
  
I close my eyes  
  
I try to sleep   
  
I can't forget you  
  
na na nah  
  
na na nah  
  
I'd do anything for you  
  
na na nah  
  
na na nah naaa  
  
I'd do anything   
  
just to hold you in my arms  
  
try to make you laugh   
  
somehow I can't put you in the past  
  
I'd do anything   
  
just to fall asleep with you  
  
to fall asleep with you  
  
with you  
  
I'd do anything  
  
to fall asleep with you  
  
I'd do anything   
  
there's nothing I won't do  
  
I'd do anything  
  
to fall asleep with you  
  
I'd do anything  
  
caz I know I won't forget you.  
  
I would do anything for Tai. Hell, sometimes I wonder if they wrote the song for me. It fits perfectly.  
  
"I'd do anything. Because I love him." I said happily and started writing the letter.  
  
********************************************************************************************  
  
I just realized that I may have made Matt a tad bit OOC.  
  
Matt: A bit? More like WAYYYYYYYYYYYY OOC.  
  
Ryamon: who asked you?  
  
Ryamon, shut up. Well people, I start competiting tomorrow. Wish me luck! And as for the next chapter, since I'm currently sitting in a lobby waiting for my room to be ready  
  
I'll start writing it. I already have everything planned out as far as plotline.  
  
Ryamon: You're going to absolutely HATE her after the next chapter.  
  
RYAMON! You're going to give everything away!  
  
Ryamon:=D ha ha.  
  
Grr.......well, until next time people. Later days! 


	5. Pain

Hey everybody, how are we doing today?  
  
Ryamon: what if they're reading this at night?  
  
Whatever. Well, let me see. I did well at compeition. We placed 2nd in age in one dance, 2nd in age and 3rd overall for another, 1st age/overall in another, 3rd in age for another, 1st age/overall for my duet, and we placed in the top ten for one of our dances. So we're going to nationals in las vegas! *does happy dance* so yea, enough about that...............  
  
Ryamon: REVIEWS! ANSWER THE REVIEWS!!!  
  
R-right..............I'll do that.  
  
Sillie: You don't have to be curious anymore. And thanks.  
  
Angel Chick: thanks. I updated.  
  
PA and DA: Good Charlotte does rock. Glad you like my loooooong chapters. I think they're kinda boring to read, but then again, I wrote them so I know what happens. Update's herew!  
  
vialana: Kenji's an ass. He's also modeled after someone I know. I know, just a little, but people act weird when they're upset. I like those songs for some reason. Those were the ones I was listening to when I wrote this. Glad it's cool. And thanks for adding me to your favorite's list.   
  
Aero-Grrl: Kenji's annoying. That's settled. sorry you have to deal with people like that. They are annoying, to be homophobic and objected to difference. Anyway, glad you love it.  
  
CCPheonix: I tried uploading this story a few days ago and ff.net was down. Grr. Kenji's just one of those people you love to hate. It's ok to be a weirdo. You have a toture room? o_0. remind me not to piss you off. lol. Danny and Kenji will die. Danny mostly. Said too much already. Glad everybody thinks Matt wasn't OOC. Haven't watch Aramageddon in a long time. I updated and I won!  
  
nEo-cHaN: Kenji.............I'm not even going to say anymore. Tai called. They are cute aren't they? I like long chapters myself, but I'm glad I'm not the only one. And I dunno, Matt just seems sort of like the sentimental type of guy. Glad u love the story. Don't hate me too much.  
  
OK guys, this is it. Chapter time. You know, I had most of this typed out on the day that I posted chapter 4. I had to wait for about an hour in the lobby of our hotel where the competition was and then my parents slept for 3-4 hours. So I had lots of laptop usage time. :D ok, so start reading. And please red the bottom note. Enjoy enjoy!  
  
************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************  
  
Wow, time flies by when you keep yourself busy. I've been in New York for about 5 1/2 weeks now.  
  
I'm finally having fun here and I'm not as home and Matt sick. Actually, things are better now. In fact, he even decided to take matters into his own hands and write a letter.  
  
Why it took about 2 weeks to get to me I have no idea, but now I can enjoy it. I have down time right now.  
  
We were all hanging out in the lounge that's attached to Justin's room. We as in, Mimi, Justin, Tyce, Ryan, and McKenzie, and of course myself. While everybody was talking about something and watching a movie, I sat in a chair and read Yama's letter.  
  
"Hey Tai." I looked up and came face-to-face with McKenzie.  
  
"Hey, Kenzie. Got bored with the movie?"  
  
"Yea. I mean, it's The Matrix." she rolled her eyes.  
  
"There absolutely nothing wrong with the Matrix." I replied and looked down at the letter again.  
  
"Maybe. So what are you up to?" she asked me as she sat down. I looked up at her again.  
  
"Huh? Oh. Just reading a letter my friend sent me." I lifted it up and showed her.  
  
"From your girlfriend?" she said quietly.  
  
"Nope. I don't have a girlfriend." She smiled.  
  
"Really?" Her voice said happily. I shook my head.   
  
"Nope. I have a boyfriend." Her look changed from confusement to surprise.  
  
"Oh. I didn't know......."  
  
"That I was gay?" I finished for her. She slowly shook her head.  
  
"Well, now you do." I replied and folded up Matt's letter. She didn't say anything. I sighed and looked up at her.  
  
"Look McKenzie, if you have a problem with it just tell me."  
  
"Oh, I don't have a problem. I'm just............surprised. I didn't know." she explained quickly. I laughed and got out of my chair.  
  
"The only people who know are my friends in Japan and Mimi."  
  
"Mimi knew?"  
  
"Yea. In fact, she helped hook me up with him." she nodded and smiled.  
  
"Hey, do you wanna go for a walk?" she asked.   
  
"Sure. Where to?" I responded. She turned around and started walking away. I followed her out the lounge and down out of the building onto the streets of New York.  
  
"So, how did you meet him?" she asked as we strolled along.  
  
"I've known Matt forever. He's been my best friend since we were like, 10."  
  
"That's kind of cool. I mean, you know everything about him then." I shrugged and continued walking.  
  
"Yea, but not everything. He's one of those people who likes to be alone and keep to himself. Although he's not as much of a loner as he was when I first met him."  
  
"What does he look like?" I pulled out my wallet and handed it to her.  
  
"See for yourself." She looked at the picture and gasped.  
  
"Damn he's hot!" she said with her eyes wide. I grinned and took it away. (A/N: All of my stories, no matter what age I say he is, Matt still has his spiky hair from 01. I don't really like his 02 hair.)  
  
"Yup. More reasons I'm glad he's mine." She shook her and and smiled.  
  
"So how long have you two been dating?"  
  
"Since about..........2 months ago I think. However long it's been since May 17."  
  
"Is there something special about May 17?"   
  
"His birthday." She grinned.  
  
"Aww, that's so cute."   
  
"Yea, I suppose." We continued to walk to Central Park.  
  
"How can you two stand to be so far apart?" I shrugged slightly.  
  
"I dunno. It's hard. When I first came to NY, I missed him like crazy. I was Matt sick basically."  
  
"You missed him that much?" I nodded.  
  
"Yup. I mean, like I said, he's my best friend too. We've never been this far apart. But oh well. I'm going back in about 6 weeks."  
  
"Wow. That's so cool." she said in awe and walked along next to me.   
  
"Can I ask you something, McKenzie?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Why are you so curious about my relationship with my boyfriend?" She stopped walking for a bit then shrugged it off.  
  
"I don't know. First off, I've never actually met a gay guy before. I wanted to know how straight relationships and heterosexual relationships were different. And from all that you just told me, they aren't different."  
  
"That's true. But try telling all those homophobic people out there about your analogy."  
  
"It crazy how people judge the unfamiliar."  
  
"Yea. Like Matt just kicked out his keyboard player for his band because he was against Matt being gay and dating me."  
  
"That's awful. Why was he against it?"  
  
"Because most of their fanbase are girls lusting after Matt. I mean, you saw him."  
  
"Yea, he's hot."  
  
"Right. Now combine that with the way he sings and you have many fangirls."  
  
"How does he sing?" I pulled my CD player out of my pocket.  
  
"Just listen." I pressed play and turned it to Track 3. I let her listen to most of the song and shut it off.  
  
"Wow. He's amazing." she said.   
  
"Yea. So they all want him. So the keyboardist figured if they found out Matt was gay, they wouldn't like the band. So he went on a huge rant about it. And the only reason Matt found out was because he was standing outside of the garage listening to him."  
  
"The jerk didn't even have the guts to say it to his face?" she said in disbelief.  
  
"Nope. Matt got really upset about it. But the guy was a jerk anyway, so it didn't really matter."  
  
"Jeez." she sighed. I nodded.  
  
"So what other reason do you have?" I asked her.  
  
"Well...............I sort of...............wanted some advice." she mumbled.  
  
"Why didn't you ask Mimi?" She shrugged.  
  
"I needed a guy's perspective."   
  
"Then why didn't you ask Justin or Ryan?"  
  
"I just couldn't......................." she trailed off. Then it clicked.  
  
"This has something to do with one of them doesn't it?" She paused and didn't say anything.  
  
"It does, doesn't it?" I said teasingly. She nodded slowly. I laughed and shook my head.  
  
"You _could_ have just told me that." She shrugged and didn't say anything.  
  
"So what's up?" I asked her.  
  
"How do you know if someone likes you?" she asked as we walked around.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean, how did you know Matt liked you?" I shrugged.  
  
"Actually, I didn't until he told me he did. Then I still didn't believe him until he kissed me. But that's beside the point."  
  
"Oh." she sounded disappointed.  
  
"Although, you can generally tell." I added quickly.  
  
"How so?" she asked.  
  
"Well, if he teases you for one thing. I know that. Um......if he treats you like one of the guys at times."  
  
"How does that prove he likes me?"  
  
"Because it means he's comfortable around you. If he tried to always be around you or get your attention. If he acts a little different towards you then he does to everyone else. Just simple things like that."  
  
"Oh. That makes sense." I nodded.  
  
"Let me guess. You want to know if Ryan likes you." She looked at me in shock.  
  
"How do you know?" she asked acussingly.  
  
"Because Justin's already taken. Process of elimination." I smirked. She nodded.  
  
"Do you like him?" She slowly nodded.  
  
"I thought so. I personally think he does. But the only way you'll find out is if you ask him yourself."  
  
"What do you mean?" she asked.  
  
"I mean, ask him out. I know he'd say yes."  
  
"I'm not so sure............."  
  
"Oh come off it Kenzie. You're pretty and funny and nice and great in general. Why would he say no?" I asked as we walked back into the A&F building.  
  
"I guess you're right." she smiled a little.  
  
"Of course I'm right. I'm the great Tai Kamiya." I smirked. She laughed. Suddenly she turned around and hugged me.  
  
"Thanks Tai." she said and pulled away.  
  
"No prob. I'm going to my room. Tell the others I'll meet them for dinner." I said as we went down separate halls.  
  
"Ok bye." she called and ran down to Justin's. I grinned after her and walked into my own apartment. I was met by Danny. And he looked happy about something. He looked up at me and grinned. Although, not friendly grin, more like a killer doll grin. Like Chuckie from those old movies.  
  
"What?" I asked and walked inside a little more.  
  
"Nothing. I just never knew you were a queer." he replied. I glared at him.  
  
"Excuse me?" I growled. He smirked even more.  
  
"So who's Matt?" he asked as he held up a letter Matt sent me.  
  
"Hey! What makes you think you can read my personal stuff?" I yelled and snacthed the letter from his grimy hands.  
  
"Not my fault that you leave your stuff laying around where any fool could read it. Especially if you don't want people knowing what you two will be doing the night you get back."   
  
"THAT"S IT!" I shouted and jumped him. He was caught off-guard, allowing me time to throw some punches. He suddenly flipped over and pinned me down.  
  
"You _will_ regret messing with Danny Dalton." he hissed and walked out of the apartment.  
  
"Asshole." I cursed after him. I didn't actually take him seriously. I shrugged off his threat and logged onto the computer. I signed onto my MSN messenger and looked at the list of people on. No Matt. Oh well. I clicked on another name and started typing.  
  
Model Player says: Hey Sora.  
  
Feisty Red says: Hi!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
Model Player says: *blink blink*   
  
Feisty Red says: :D sorry. OMG, how are you? I haven't talked to you in ages!!!!  
  
Model Player says: pretty good. what about you?  
  
Feisty Red says: bored. All three of my best friends are gone.  
  
Model Player says: all 3?  
  
Feisty Red says: you and Mimi are in America.  
  
Model Player says: who's the 3rd?  
  
Feisty Red says: Matt.  
  
Model Player says: where is he?  
  
Feisty Red says: he went to France for a little while.  
  
Model Player says: what the hell is he doing in France?  
  
Feisty Red says: his grandparents live over there, remember?  
  
Model Player says: do you know when he'll be back?  
  
Feisty Red says: i think he'll be back in 2-3 weeks. the bad part is is that he doesn't have a computer over there.  
  
Model Player says: 2-3 weeks!?!?!?! :'(  
  
Feisty Red says: oh stop. lol. he said that he'd try to write regular letters if possible.  
  
Model Player says: oh. ok.  
  
Model Player says: what's with your s/n? what does it mean?  
  
Feisty Red says: just what it says.  
  
Model Player says: feisty red what?  
  
Feisty Red says: me! I'm Feisty Red, it's Jamie's new nickname for me because I almost kicked his ass yesterday.  
  
Model Player says: why red?  
  
Feisty Red says: *sweatdrop* Tai, you're stupid.   
  
Model Player says: so??  
  
Feisty red says: omg.............my hair Tai! MY HAIR IS RED!  
  
Model Player says: oh yea..........:D oops.  
  
Feisty Red says: baka. lol. So what's goin' on in NYC?  
  
Model Player says: not a whole lot. I'm modeling obviously. Mimi and I have been hangin' out all over the place with her b/f and some of our other friends.  
  
Feisty Red says: is Justin as cute in person as he is in a photo?  
  
Model Player says: how do you know about Justin?  
  
Feisty Red says: Meems told me about him like, 7 or 8 months ago.  
  
Model Player says: ARE YOU SERIOUS??? I didn't even meet him until i got on the plane. Then i didn't find out that they were dating until Justin told me so.  
  
Feisty Red says: hey, i'm Mimi's bff. She tells me everything. Kind of like a female version of yours and Matt's friendship.  
  
Model Player says: sure...............................why not? *shrugs*  
  
Feisty Red says: weird. Anyway, have you done a shoot yet?   
  
Model Player says: a couple. I love being a model. Then again, it could be because i'm a gay guy.  
  
Feisty Red says: lol. I don't think so. I mean, look at Justin. He's a model and he's perfectly straight.  
  
Model Player says: true. What have you been up to this summer?  
  
Feisty Red says: been hangin' out with Matt and his band. Went to see my dad in Kyoto. That's about it.  
  
Model Player says: now why have you been spending more time with my boyfriend then I have?  
  
Feisty Red says: oh, i dunno........maybe becaz ur on the other side of the world right now!  
  
Model Player says: oh..........right, I knew that. :D  
  
Feisty Red says: i'm sure you did.  
  
Model Player says: :P  
  
Model Player says: have you been keeping him happy?  
  
Feisty Red says: yea, but it's hard. He really misses you. He's all like, 'I know something's going to happen to him.' so he worries about you all the time.  
  
Model Player says: I feel so loved. :)  
  
Feisty Red says: yea. It's so cute how he constantly wonders about you. But he's getting used to u being gone.  
  
Model Player says: i told him not to worry about me. Nothing's going to happen.  
  
Feisty Red says: he believes something's gonna happen and he's worried and upset caz he can't protect u.  
  
Model Player says: I don't need his protection all the time. oh well. *shrugs*  
  
Feisty Red says: yea. But you know he only does it because he loves you.  
  
Model Player says: yea.   
  
Model Player says: well, i g2g. Dinner's ready. If you talk to Matt b4 I do, tell him I love him. Did he leave his g-parent's address?  
  
Feisty Red says: nope, unfortunatly. But if he writes me I will.  
  
Model Player says: k thanx. ttyl.  
  
Feisty Red says: no problemo. bai tai.  
  
Model Player says: bai   
  
I logged offline and looked at the clock.   
  
"I'm late." I said and jumped off my bed. I ran downstairs and into the eating hall. Tyce, Mimi, and Justin were waiting for me.  
  
"About time you got here. We were going to start without you." Justin greeted me. I rolled my eyes and sat down.  
  
"I'm so sure." I said and helped myself to the food. I looked up and realized someone was missing.  
  
"Hey guys, where's Ryan and McKenzie?" I asked the other 3.  
  
"McKenzie wanted to talk to him. So they're probably in my room still." Justin replied. Suddenly Ryan came in and sat down. He didn't say anything and started eating.  
  
"Hey Ry. Where's Kenzie?" I asked him. He looked up at me. He looked a little annoyed.  
  
"Why would I know? What am I, her babysitter?" he snapped back.  
  
"Ryan, McKenzie and you are the same age." Mimi reminded him.  
  
"No, I'm 14. She's 13." he said.  
  
"Still, there's only like a 5 month difference." Tyce put in.  
  
"You know what? Just shut up." Ryan snapped.  
  
"What's with the attitude? Did something happen?" Justin asked. Ryan just glared at him.  
  
"God you guys. It's nothing."  
  
"Yea right. You're never this grouchy." Tyce said.  
  
"Shut up you guys! Just leave me alone!" he shouted and jumped up from the table. He was pissed, we could tell. He ran out of the hall and upstairs.  
  
"Wonder what THAT was all about." Justin wondered aloud. Mimi shrugged and Tyce shook her head. I got up from the table too.  
  
"Tai, where you going?" Tyce asked me.  
  
"I'm going to go find McKenzie. I'll be back in a while." I replied and walked out into the hall and up the stairs. I walked along until I reached McKenzie's room.  
  
"Kenzie, you in there?" I knocked on the door.  
  
"Go away!" was my response.  
  
"Come on, Kenzie. It's Tai." I called through the door. I heard her sigh and open the door.  
  
"What?" she growled at me. She looked as equally pissed as Ryan.  
  
"What's going on? What happened between you and Ryan?" I asked as I walked inside.  
  
"Well, thanks to you, he hates me." she said bitterly and glared at me.  
  
"Why? What happened?"   
  
"I told him I wanted to talk to him. We came here. I told him that I liked him. He said, 'You're not good enough for me.' So I said, 'If that's true, then maybe our friendship isn't good enough for you either.' And so he said, 'You're right, it's not.' and he left."  
  
"He what?" I said in shock.   
  
"I hate him. I hate his guts. He can go to hell and burn!" She shouted and broke down into tears. I walked over and wrapped my arms around her.  
  
"Why aren't I good enough for him? Why isn't our friendship good enough for him?" she sobbed quietly. I let her cry and thought about that.  
  
"Denial." I said at last.  
  
"Say what?" she sniffed.  
  
"He's afraid of what will happen in a relationship. That it would ruin the friendship."  
  
"Stupid jackass already ruined it." she said angerily.  
  
"Just give eachother time to cool off. All good friends fight. Like me and Matt. When we were like 12, we fought like cats and dogs. But look at where we are now."  
  
"True."  
  
"Just don't bring it up for a few days and let him think things through."  
  
"Do I have to talk to him?"   
  
"No you don't."  
  
"Good." she mumbled and pulled away from me. I shook my head and sighed.  
  
"You going to come downstairs?" I asked as I headed for the door.  
  
"Nah, I think I'll stay here. See ya later." she replied.  
  
"Ok, if you're sure. See you later." I said and left the room. I headed downstairs and saw Tyce, Justin, and Mimi still there.  
  
"Has Ryan come back?" I asked as I sat down.  
  
"Nope. I tried to get him to come back down but he told me to go suck an egg. What's going on?" Justin asked. I explained everything that had happened to them.  
  
"So now they're mad and not talking to eachother." I finished.  
  
"Typical." Tyce said.  
  
"What do you mean, typical?" Mimi raised an eyebrow.  
  
"It's simple. Ryan and McKenzie are both stubborn and hard-headed. Of course they're not going to talk to eachother. However, they're not going to just throw their friendship away either. They'll come around." she explained.  
  
"That makes sense." I said thoughtfully.   
  
"I'm done. Anybody wanna go upstairs?" Justin suggested.  
  
"Let's go." I said and we all left to Justin's apartment. We sat in his living room and watched Ms. Congeniality. Don't even ask me why Justin has a bunch of chick flicks because I don't even know. The movie finally ended and I looked at the clock. 11 pm.  
  
"I'm heading back. I'll see you guys at breakfast." I said and waved.  
  
"Bye." they said and I walked out the door. I wandered along the lonely corridors. Have you ever had that feeling that someone's following you, even though you're completly alone? Well, that's what it felt like walking to my apartment. I finally reached it and sighed in relief. I walked inside and shut the door. But it didn't click shut. I whirled around and saw Danny.  
  
"What are you doing?" I asked him. He had a dangerous glint in his eye.  
  
"Absolutely nothing." he replied slowly and locked the door.   
  
"Um, Danny..........why are you locking the door?" I asked warily. He didn't respond. Instead, he walked up to me and started sucking on my neck. He pinned me up against a wall and started feeling up my spine.  
  
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" I asked as I tried to pull away.  
  
"I told you never to mess with me." he whispered and pulled me over to my bed. I struggled to get away, but he was way too strong. He pulled off my shirt and traced patterns on my chest. Then he slowly upzipped my jeans. 'Oh my god. He's going to rape me.' I thought.   
  
"HEY! SOMEBODY HELP ME!" I yelled at the top of my lungs.  
  
"Nobody can help you now. There's no one to hear you scream." Danny said evilly and started. All I could do was scream and try to buck him off.  
  
"SOMEBODY HELP!" I yelled one more time.   
  
"Tai?" Mimi called through the door. I screamed and couldn't respond. Mimi burst into my apartment, being that she has a key. She gasped as Justin ran up behind her. Justin's face etched into a look of horror. Suddenly he jumped forward and punched Danny in the face. Danny growled and got off of me. Justin kicked him and ran. Danny followed. Justin ran into the kitchen. Danny ran into the kitchen. And as soon as he stepped in, Mimi walked up and clonked him on the head with a baseball bat. He stopped in his tracks and fell unconsicous. Mimi and Justin ran back to me.  
  
"Oh my god, Tai are you all right?" Mimi asked me. I shook my head slowly and started bawling. I couldn't help it. It hurt so much. My door burst open again and this time Tyce, Ryan, and McKenzie burst in.  
  
"What's going on?" Ryan asked. Then they saw me.  
  
"Oh my gosh. What happened to him?" Tyce asked and rushed forward.  
  
"Danny." Mimi replied as I sobbed into her arms.   
  
"What about him?" McKenzie asked.  
  
"He........he raped me." I whispered in between sobs.  
  
"WHAT?" they exclaimed simultaneously. Mimi nodded and looked at them.  
  
"Ryan, go get Mark and tell him what's going on. Tyce, go clear out the spare room in our place. And Kenzie, go to Justin's and start running bath water." she gave orders. They nodded and headed off their separate ways. Mimi sat back and let me sob into her shoulder.  
  
"Tai, it's ok." she whispered to me. I shook my head slowly.  
  
"No. I can't stay here. What if he comes back for more?" I sobbed quietly.  
  
"Mark's going to kick him out." she reassured me.  
  
"And he's being sent to Juvinille Hall." Justin added as he walked into the room.  
  
"What's going on JT?" Mimi asked him.  
  
"Mark's downstairs with Danny and the police. They're going over paperwork and stuff. He said he'd be up to check over Tai in a bit." He replied. Mimi nodded and suddenly stood up and scooped me into her arms.  
  
"Come on. We're going back to your room." Mimi said to Justin and walked out the door. We walked down the hallway and into Justin's bathroom.  
  
"Strip him down and get him in the bath water." Mimi instructed Justin.  
  
"Why? How's that going to help?"   
  
"Ease the pain. I've heard it hurts." she looked at me in corcern. I nodded and slowly stood up. She smiled faintly and walked out of the door.  
  
"Can you do this by yourself?" Justin asked.   
  
"Yea, I'll be fine." I replied and started walking towards the tub. Except my knees buckled underneath me.  
  
"Damn it. Let me help." he walked over and pulled off my shirt and pants.   
  
"Aw shit, you're bleeding." he said and placed me in the bath water.  
  
"You are really light you know that?" he commented. I shrugged and leaned back. I imediatly regretted it as pain washed over my body.  
  
"You ok?" Justin asked as he sat on the rim.  
  
"Yea. Hurts like hell, that's all." I replied. He nodded sympathetically.  
  
"You're still crying. Why?" he asked me. I shook my head and fingered the ring on my neck.  
  
"He didn't protect me." I said quietly.  
  
"What?" Justin raised his eyebrow.  
  
"He didn't protect me." I started sobbing quietly again.   
  
"Who?"  
  
"Matt. He said he would always protect me." I said and buried my head in my arms on the rim.  
  
"He was suppose to protect me. I thought he would always protect me." I repeated over and over again. All the while Justin just sat there and rubbed my back in sympathy.   
  
I don't know how long I sat there but the next thing I knew I was in a bed instead of a bathtub. I was in Mimi's apartment. And everyone was asleep. I glanced at the clock and read that it was 2:30 am. I stayed awake and thought about everything that happened today. But only one thought stayed in my mind.  
  
"Why didn't you protect me Yama? I needed you and you let me down." I said quietly. With those last words I rolled over and fell asleep.  
  
***************************************************************************************************************************************************  
  
*looks at readers. Sees their faces. *runs.*  
  
Ryamon: Umm.....well, looks like I get to do the ending credits. Well, first of all, I'd like to say that I come up with all the ideas. If I had fingers, I would type it myself.  
  
Second, IV is just an immature girl with no life so she writes my ideas and  
  
me: RYAMON! JUST SAY THE IMPORTANT STUFF!  
  
Ryamon: Fine. Next chapter will be in Yamato's POV. This will be the last chapter until IV gets back from vacation. SWhe gets back on the 29th. In the meantime, reviews? Please? The reviews make her happy and when she's happy, she doesn't yell at me.  
  
I don't yell at you!  
  
Ryamon: R-right. Bai folks! 


	6. Everywhere

Hey all! *sees readers angry faces* Umm.......*runs*  
  
Kali Vulpix: Well, since IV took off, I get stuck answering reviews.  
  
Ryamon: Don't worry KV, she left you cue cards!!!  
  
Kali Vulpix: *sweatdrops* oh joy, cue cards. Well, first thing, answer reviews. Ok then.  
  
PA and DA: Poor Tai, I know. (KV: You did this to him IV.) Danny must die! I love foreboding and stuff. It's fun. Sorry I didn't update sooner.  
  
vialana: Sorry! I was possessed. (KV: By what, a squirrel?) Danny's evil. Drama and angst are hard for me to write. I don't know if I want Tai to have psychological trauma. But it's kinda late for that. It wasn't necessary, just sort of happened. Unfortunately, Yama's reaction won't be known until the 3rd story. Do I still get a giant cookie? (KV: Only if you share it with me.)  
  
Aero-Grrl: Aluminum bat or wooden? Feel free to bash him all you want. Sorry it was evil. *Cries* I had fun. Glad you love the story.  
  
Sillie: All your questions shall be answered in the 3rd story.  
  
Ninetales122: Poor Tai. I feel bad now. (KV: Yea right.) Glad you love it too.  
  
Gay Witch: He was raped. It won't TOTALLY ruin it. Things will get better in the 3rd story. And what's wrong with Mimi?  
  
nEo-cHaN: I think everyone knew something was gonna happen. Thanks. And you can hit my yami. (KV: WHAT? IV I'LL GET YOU FOR EVEN THINKING OF THAT!)  
  
Angel Chick2: Glad you loved it. And feel free to do whatever you wish to Danny. I don't need him anymore. I updated. =D  
  
CCPheonix: Calm down CC, um...things'll get better in story 3. And my double can take all the torture for me. Otherwise I can't continue writing and make things good again. (KV: WHY DO YOU INSIST ON KILLING ME?) Sorry Patamon. I won, yea. I updated as soon as I could and it'll get better. Be patient.  
  
Enigma1: Glad you love it. Glad you like my OCs. Here's the next chapter. I live for cliffhangers. =D  
  
Dark Fox: Yea, poor Tai. I feel bad now! *cries*  
  
Redvind: DON"T KILL ME!!! KILL Kali VULPIX! (KV: STOP TRYING TO KILL ME!) REMEMBER, YOU PEOPLE NEED ME TO MAKE THINGS BETTER. You can't kill me yet. Anyways, Tai is too cute, and he gets in trouble for it. You never know what I'll come up with. I'll fix it in story 3 I promise. Just don't shoot me.  
  
lampshadesrgreat: Cliffy's are evil.....that's why I love 'em. Matt will find out eventually. 3rd stories. No more answers.  
  
Bandit-Lone-Wolf: I don't like Danny either. No one does. It's ok to be lazy. I am most of the time. (KV: Got that right!)  
  
Kali Vulpix: All right, since IV still hasn't come back, I got more announcements from her. First, she started a new Taito and Takesuke fic called Tai's Driving Can be Hazardous To Our Health. If you haven't read and reviewed it yet, you should. She would appreciate it very much. Second, the story's getting closer to the end. But never fear, there will be a 3rd story to follow this one to tie up all the angst and bring on fluff. I think that's about it. Well, read the bottom notes and stuff. Enjoy!  
  
**************************************************************************** ** I should report child abuse on my dad. He dragged me to France against my own will. All right, so maybe child abuse is a bit of a stretch. But still, I didn't want to come here in the first place. I mean, I love my grandparents and all, but they live in the friggin' Stone Age or something. They have the phone and TV, but no computer. I'm here for 2 more weeks with no way of getting in contact with Tai. I forgot the address, so I can't send him snailmail. All in all....  
  
"This officially sucks." I sighed and got off of my bed. I wandered downstairs and headed for the front door.  
  
"Where do you think you're going?" My dad asked from his seat in the living room.  
  
"Just gonna go for a walk. Be back later." I replied and walked out the door. Besides the fact that I have no clue where I'm going, I am so sore all over. You try carrying in luggage the night after dragging around Jamie's drums. Swear those things gave me a hernia. And that was almost a week ago. Then again, I've been moving stuff around at my Grandmother's house. So I feel like I need a break from activity....boredom...TK. Which is why I'm walking in the park. For some reason, parks make me feel relaxed and comfortable.  
  
"Probably because I always go to the park with Tai." I said aloud. I wandered around aimlessly musing over Tai. Suddenly I crashed right into someone else. A female someone who was now sprawled on the ground.  
  
"Excusez- moi." She said and picked herself up from the ground.  
  
"C'est d'accord. Je desolee'." I replied and got off of the ground as well. She smiled and extended her hand.  
  
"Bonjour. Tu appelle comment?" she asked me.  
  
"Je m'appelle Matt. Tu parle anglais?" I asked.  
  
"Yes." She replied.  
  
"Thank god. I don't speak that much French." I said in relief. She laughed.  
  
"I could tell. The French you do speak is kind of garbled together." She replied and stuck out her hand.  
  
"My name is Tawny Kay Griply, but you can call me TK." I nodded and shook her hand.  
  
"Pleasure to meet you Tawny."  
  
"Please, call me TK."  
  
"I'd rather not." She looked rather offended.  
  
"And why not?" She glared at me. I gritted my teeth to avoid yelling at her.  
  
"Because my little brother's name is TK. And it's actually short for his first name, not his first and middle name." I replied and started walking. She proceeded to follow me.  
  
"Sorry. Hey, you wanna come to the mall with me?" I turned to look at her.  
  
"There's actually a mall in this place?" I asked suspiciously.  
  
"Well yea, I mean, this IS Paris. Paris has everything." She replied and led me to the mall.  
  
"What are we gonna do?" I asked as I followed her.  
  
"Hook up with some of my friends. Then I guess just wing it." She responded and walked over to a group of kids our age.  
  
"Hey all." Tawny greeted them.  
  
"About time you got here." A girl replied and stood up.  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"Who's this?" another girl asked. Tawny smiled brightly.  
  
"This is Matt. My new boyfriend." She said proudly. Wait, boyfriend?  
  
"Since when am I-" I started to say before she kicked me in the shin. Tawny gave another smile and started introducing people.  
  
"Ok, this is Madison, Mckel, Kylie, Toby, Tyler, and Missy." She pointed out everyone. I didn't say anything and simply nodded.  
  
"Cool. So can we go somewhere now?" Toby asked impatiently.  
  
"Yea, please. My butt is sore from waiting for Ms. Tardy here." Tyler added. Everyone got up and started walking down the mall strip, Tawny holding my arm the whole time.  
  
"Hey guys, can we go in here?" Mckel asked suddenly and pointed at a store. Without waiting for an answer she went inside with Kylie, Madison, Missy, and Tawny. I honestly tried to leave, but it's hard having a human leech attached to you. While the girls were shopping around, I was checking out the store, listening to the music. Suddenly I stopped walking and gaped at a sign hanging in front of my face.  
  
"What's wrong Matt?" Tawny asked me. I didn't respond and kept staring at the picture. The green soccer tank, the flares, the tanned skin, perfect brown eyes......everything I longed for since June.  
  
"Isn't he hot?" Tawny asked the girls who had now gathered around me.  
  
"Who?" Kylie asked, looking between the picture and me.  
  
"The guy in the picture, duh." Tawny sighed dreamily. I glared at her darkly and stifled a growl.  
  
"His name is Tai Kamiya." I said slowly.  
  
"You know about him?" Missy asked me.  
  
"He's my best friend. Has been for years." I said in a low voice.  
  
"He is totally hot." Mckel replied.  
  
"Think you could introduce me to him sometime?" Missy asked me.  
  
"First of all, he normally lives in Japan with me. Second, he's already taken." I said and stormed out of the store. Toby and Tyler were playing in the arcade across from A&F. I couldn't tell which one was playing and which was sitting. They're twins and look too damn much alike!  
  
"Hey Tyler, got an extra quarter?" That answered my question. Tyler threw a quarter at his brother and turned his focus to me.  
  
"Girls finally drive you over the edge?" Tyler grinned.  
  
"Yea, just a bit." I replied and sat down next to him.  
  
"Well, welcome to our world." Toby said without looking up.  
  
"How can you guys stand it?" I asked.  
  
"Simple. It's just Tawny that drives us nuts. The rest of the chicks are cool." He replied.  
  
"Feel sorry for you, I mean, you're her boyfriend now." Tyler added.  
  
"I am NOT her boyfriend. I just met her like, 20 minutes ago." I said defensively. Toby and Tyler looked at eachother and shook their heads.  
  
"Slut-tron strikes again." They said simultaneously.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Tawny is one of those girls who has a new boyfriend almost every week. She does it to impress people, but it doesn't work." Tyler explained.  
  
"She's just a slut. She'll dump you in two weeks max." Toby added.  
  
"In two weeks I won't even be here."  
  
"Why not?" Tyler asked.  
  
"Because I'll be going back home."  
  
"Where do you live?" Toby asked as he sat down with us.  
  
"Japan."  
  
"What are you doing here if you live in Japan?" Tyler gaped at me.  
  
"Grandparents." I shrugged.  
  
"Well, then you have no problems. Tawny's just a mean bit-"  
  
"Hey guys!" Tawny said cheerfully while cutting Toby off.  
  
"Can we go now?" Tyler asked and stood up.  
  
"Of course. It starts in 20 minutes." Kylie replied and sauntered up to him.  
  
"Where we going?" Toby asked.  
  
"Movies, remember? Pirates of the Caribbean...like we agreed on 2 days ago." Madison said teasingly and started walking towards the multi-plex. (A/N: I just saw that movie last week, so go figure. IT WAS A GOOD MOVIE TOO! Ryamon: IV, no one cares about what you thought of it.)  
  
"Come on Mattie." Tawny cooed and hooked onto me again.  
  
"Only one person is allowed to call me Mattie." I mumbled. 'And it sure as hell ain't you.' I thought darkly. We arrived at the box office in good time. Then I thought of the perfect way to get out of this.  
  
"Oh man, I didn't bring any cash. Guess I can't go. See you guys later." I said and started walking the opposite direction.  
  
"Oh no you don't. Toby, I know you have enough money. Pay for Matt's ticket would you?" Tawny said and paid for her own.  
  
"Well, what about Madison's? That's why I brought extra money." He argued with her.  
  
"Madison can pay for her own." She shot back.  
  
"Tawny, in case you've forgotten, I'm officially broke. As in, I'm poor. As in, barely enough money in the family to pay the rent." Madison replied hotly.  
  
"Then why are you even here?" Tawny hissed slowly and menacing.  
  
"How about this? Toby can pay for Madison and I'll pay for Matt. Dad gave me extra money." Tyler suddenly jumped in.  
  
"Fine whatever." Tawny rolled her eyes and went inside.  
  
"Evil whore." Madison cursed under her breath.  
  
"Chill out Mads. It's no big deal." Toby said calmly.  
  
"No big deal? It's a very big deal. Stupid evil bitch thinks she can push me around." Madison growled, very close to tears. Toby wrapped his arms around the quiet blonde.  
  
"Ignore her ok? She's an evil bitch like you said. And besides, who cares? Eventually she'll get screwed by some guy who'll leave her and we can all laugh." Toby said. Madison grinned and nodded.  
  
"That's true." Toby nodded and led her inside.  
  
"Are those two going out?" I asked Tyler as we bought our tickets.  
  
"Nah, but Toby likes her." He replied as we walked inside.  
  
"Then why don't they go out?"  
  
"Because Toby doesn't want to ask and Maddy is too stubborn to admit she likes him." He explained and we walked towards the others.  
  
"About time guys. Movie's about to start!" Kylie said and pulled Tyler into the theater. The rest of us followed and sat down. On the end was Mckel, then Madison, then Toby, then Kylie, then Tyler, then me, then Tawny, then Missy on the other end. We sat in the dark, watching previews for other movies. Soon it started rolling.  
  
"This movie is so cool." Tyler said to me.  
  
"Have you already seen it?" he nodded in response.  
  
"Tob and I saw it last week."  
  
"Then why see it again?" I asked.  
  
"Because Kylie wanted to, so did the rest of them." I nodded and turned back to the screen. I felt something by my hand but didn't really think of it. As I watched the movie, the something by my hand kept moving. I looked down suddenly and saw Tawny's hand REALLY close to my ass.  
  
"What do you think you're doing?" I asked her as I jerked my hand away.  
  
"Nothing." She smiled what she thought was a seductive smile. Except it looked more like a toad. I shook my head and started watching the movie again. We were at the part when the pirates become skeletons when Tawny went crazy. She screamed and buried her face into my shoulder.  
  
"I can't watch Matt. I'm scared." She said pitifully. I rolled my eyes and pushed her off of my shoulder.  
  
"Get over it. You're the only one who's scared." I snorted and turned my attention to the movie again. Suddenly the monkey came on the screen, scaring the lady in the movie and Tawny. She was now practically sitting in my lap.  
  
"Get the hell off of me. For gods sakes, it's a movie." I pushed her back into her own chair.  
  
"Don't you want to comfort me though?" she batted her eyelashes.  
  
"Not really." I murmured and watched the movie again. It was like that through the whole movie. She put her head on my shoulder, so I shook her off. She tried whispering in my ear, so I pushed her away. It was at the end that she went too far. The characters in the movie kissed and she tried to kiss me. Now that DEFINATLY went over the line. I slapped her away.  
  
"Matt, why are you so mean?" Tawny pouted as we walked out of the theater.  
  
"Well.....why are you such a slut?" I asked her. She looked a bit taken- back, but recovered quickly.  
  
"I'm not a slut. I can't help it if everyone finds me very attractive and wants me." She said flirtatiously. I was about to reply when Madison spoke up.  
  
"Tawny get over yourself." She said to her.  
  
"Excuse me? I thought I heard something. Must be the wind." She ignored Madison. Madison walked closer and looked at her.  
  
"First of all, you don't have guys wanting you. You force them to date you. Secondly, they don't find you attractive, just easy to sleep with. And last, you're too fat to be wearing such skanky clothes. So I advice you to stop before you make someone blind." Madison said cooly. Tawny was absolutely fuming. She pounced on Madison and pinned her to the ground. She started punching her and Madison started fighting back. They stood up and continued fighting. Tawny stood up and stopped the fight.  
  
"This isn't over, Madison. So watch your back." She said and walked off. Toby ran over to Madison who was now on the ground.  
  
"Mads, Mads talk to me." He lifted her up. She slowly came back to consciousness.  
  
"Damn bitch." She cussed and felt her wounds.  
  
"We have to treat her cuts and bruises." Toby said.  
  
"Follow me. My grandparents' house isn't far from here." I said and started walking. Toby started to follow me.  
  
"You guys go on home. Ty, tell dad I went somewhere." He called over his shoulder and carried Madison back to the house. I opened the door and walked inside.  
  
"Grandma? Grandpa? Dad?" I called through the house.  
  
"They left a little while ago." TK answered me as he came out of the living room.  
  
"That's good." I said and walked up to the bathroom with Toby still behind me.  
  
"Take her into the room across the hall. I'll be right there." I said. Toby nodded and walked into my room. TK followed me into the bathroom.  
  
"What happened?" he asked as he helped me grab stuff.  
  
"Madison stood up for herself and got her ass kicked for it." I growled.  
  
"Who's Madison?" he asked as we walked back into my room.  
  
"That's Madison. And this is Toby. Guys, this is my brother TK." I introduced them and sat on the bed next to Madison, who was now sitting up and out of Toby's arms.  
  
"That's the last time I ever mouth off to people bigger then me." She winced as I cleaned a cut on her forehead.  
  
"You tried. Holy cow, you were on a role. It was SO funny to watch her react." Toby grinned.  
  
"Yea, and I'm guessing every bit of it was true." I added as I placed bandages all over her arms.  
  
"Yup. She just doesn't want to admit it." She said.  
  
"Does anyone even really like her?" I asked.  
  
"Missy. Everybody else feels sorry for her or are friends with Missy." Toby replied. I nodded and handed Madison an icepack for her eye.  
  
"That's about all I can do." I shrugged.  
  
"Thanks Matt. We'll leave now." She got up slowly and pulled Toby behind her.  
  
"We'll see ya around." Toby called back as he walked away. The sound of the slamming door was soon heard.  
  
"Well, that was interesting." TK broke the silence.  
  
"Whatever." I walked out of the room and down to the living room. TK still followed me and sat down in the recliner. I flipped on the TV and he was reading his magazine and drinking a soda. Suddenly he started choking.  
  
"Dude, are you ok?" I asked alarmed and started pounding him on the back.  
  
"Matt, look at this." TK breathed out and shoved his magazine in my hand.  
  
"Male Model Frenzy?" I read the title of the article.  
  
"That's not all. Look at the pictures and interview." TK pointed out. I sat down again and started reading the article.  
  
~ When people hear the word model, they think skinny females in hot outfits. But what about the male models? Why do they never get credit for their work? Because they never get recognized. So we decided to get the inside scoop on the male model world with hot new supermodel Tai Kamiya.  
  
Bethany: So Tai, what's it like being a model?  
  
Tai: Um, I actually can't describe it very well. I'm one of those people who loves being the center of attention. So being a model was a great opportunity for me. It's super cool.  
  
Bethany: What did you do before you were a model?  
  
Tai: I played a lot of soccer mostly. Played a bunch of different sports  
  
Bethany: What made you go from a jock to a model?  
  
Tai: Well, it all started back in May. My friend Sora wanted me to enter a male model contest at our hometown. To make a long story short, I won, Mark Fletcher found me, and I got drafted into the summer modeling program.  
  
Bethany: How is being a male model different then being a female model?  
  
Tai: It's not, besides that Mark favors the girls more.  
  
Bethany: How long do you think you'll be a model?  
  
Tai: I'm not too sure. I want to continue modeling during my summers, but then go back home for the rest of the year.  
  
Bethany: Is there anyone special at home you're so anxious to return to?  
  
Tai: Yes. Mostly my friends and family.  
  
Bethany: Any relationships at the moment.  
  
Tai: I currently am in a relationship.  
  
Bethany: Do you enjoy modeling?  
  
Tai: Definitely. When my friends first suggested that I be in the model contest, I laughed like an idiot. I never thought I would like it this much. But I'm glad they made me enter the contest.  
  
Bethany: Why did they make you enter the contest?  
  
Tai: No comment on that one.  
  
Bethany: What's it like to know people like Mimi Tachikawa?  
  
Tai: Actually, Mimi and I have been friends for almost 5 years, even before she was a model. She's the one who helped get me into the draft.  
  
Bethany: Are you ready to be a world model?  
  
Tai: I'm always up for a good challenge. ~  
  
The article had pictures of Tai at his shoots, hanging out with Mimi and some other people and just ordinary shots. I handed the magazine back to TK and grinned.  
  
"Sounds like our jock friend is famous for his looks." I grinned and changed the channel on the TV.  
  
"He looks good in pictures though. What's that called?" TK asked as he looked at the photos.  
  
"It's called being photogenic." I rolled my eyes and looked at the screen. I had no clue what I was watching, some dumb soap opera. I was waiting for it to end so I could watch the movie that was coming on after it. The soap opera ended and it went into a commercial break.  
  
"Matt, is that Tai?" TK asked me. I looked back at the screen and stared. I've never seen an A&F commercial before, yet there was one right before my eyes. (A/N: I've never seen an A&F commercial ever either.) My Tai was running on a soccer field in that same soccer shirt and athletic shorts. Brutal match being played and at the end, the 3 boys including Tai posed while they showed prices and stuff.  
  
"Jeeze, he's been gone for only 2 months and he's already got TV commercials and interviews!" I exclaimed.  
  
"And a billboard." TK added.  
  
"Yea and a billboard." I said. Then I did a double take.  
  
"Wait, what billboard?" I asked him.  
  
"Kari said that there's a billboard across from the arcade and it's Tai's. Look, she sent a picture." He reached into one of his many pockets and handed me a photo. You could tell where the picture was taken. Underneath the billboard was the flower shop Sora's mom owned. He had a pair of khaki cargo pants on along with a blue striped polo shirt.  
  
"Man, wonder if Tai knows how popular he's become." TK said in awe and took away the picture.  
  
"Well, like he said in his interview, he likes being the center of attention." I said and walked upstairs.  
  
"Aren't you going to watch the movie?" TK called after me.  
  
"Nah. Call me when dinner's ready or something." I said and shut my bedroom door. I stayed locked up in my room for a long time. I finally came out at about 10pm from boredom. Everyone else was already asleep or in their room. I flopped down on the couch and grabbed the magazine again. I flipped back to the article about Tai and looked at his pictures.  
  
"He looks happy. Wonder if he'll actually wanna come home." I smirked. I looked at the pictures even closer.  
  
"He's always got that smile of his on." I mused some more. Then I looked down at the biggest picture. I examined every part of his face and upper body as they showed. I glanced at his neck and saw a small spot. I looked closer and grinned happily.  
  
"Yep, he'll definitely come home." I looked at the picture one last time. The perfect hair, the gorgeous eyes, the tanned skin......and his ring around his neck, still on its chain.  
  
**************************************************************************** ** Who here didn't like Tawny? *raises hand* Aw yes, another person modeled after people I know. All right guys, I have two more chapters then I am finished with this story. Then like I said, if you guys want, I'll make it a trilogy. Make a 3rd story after this with Taito fluff.  
  
Ryamon: I LIKE FLUFF!  
  
I know you do. Which is why if people want it, I'll make most of the 3rd story fluff.  
  
Kali Vulpix: You're going soft with these people you know that?  
  
Nah, I'm just happy. I'm on 21 people's favorite author list. I feel so special.  
  
Kali Vulpix and Ryamon: ED!  
  
So what? Ok, so here's how things are gonna work now. For right now and when I write the 3rd story too, I'll write one chapter for the model series. Then I'll write one chapter for my Taito/Takesuke fic. Which BTW, if you haven't read it, please do and review please? It's my latest idea.  
  
Kali Vulpix: You have a lot of new ideas huh?  
  
Yep. But I need to finish all of the stuff I started first.  
  
Ryamon: So chop chop!  
  
Whatever Ryamon. Bai peeps, see y'all laterz! 


	7. The Concert

Hey everybody! Ok, so we have chapter 7! Well, I'll skip the top notes, so please read the bottom notes. But I'll answer reviews.  
  
CCPheonix: Yup, Tawny's another person you can torture. I give you full permission. She crawled out of the hole in the ground. Don't torture Patamon, he's cool. Work sucks...and you saw Robbie Williams? That's cool. Um, yea anyways. Third story coming. And read the bottom note about your other request.  
  
Vialana: COOKIE! Sorry, I like sugar foods. I hate Tawny too, she's modeled after this one girl I know that hangs out in my group of friends. Tai should be famous, he's cute enough. Read the bottom note about your last part.  
  
Enigma1: Glad you liked it. And I will make it a trilogy.  
  
Dark_Fox: Read the bottom note.  
  
Leonheeroyue: thanks.  
  
Bandit-Lone-Wolf: YES! STAB HER!!!! HAHAHAHA!!!!  
  
Heaven's Angel Chick: Glad you like. No Danny!!! YEA!  
  
nEo-cHaN: Yup, another one after this. I'll continue both.  
  
PA and DA: I know someone that IS Tawny, 'cept her name isn't Tawny...anyway glad you like. I can speak LITTLE French. If I actually paid attention in class, I'd know more though..  
  
Carine: He'll find out eventually...and she's a slut. Thanks for correcting me, I knew I should have paid more attention in class. I haven't spoken French sine May.  
  
Lampshadesrgreat: That's sad? Matt'll find out. (read bottom note.) Tai may or may not, depends on how I feel about him at the moment. I've posted more and Tawny is a bitch. I feel bad for Matt.  
  
Sillie: Glad you didn't like her because I didn't either.  
  
Digininga: Thanks. I'll finish.  
  
o_o: Don't stab me, otherwise I can't finish!  
  
Ninetales122: No one would like her, that's the point. Lol. It's ok.  
  
Aero-Grrl: You loved it too? Tawny needs her ass kicked, but I won't do that. You reviewers can hurt her. Glad you like it.  
  
Gay Witch: Ok, you had me confused. Lol. Tai and Matt's relationship won't be destroyed, I'm not that cruel. Madison had the best idea.  
  
All right guys, her you go. Read the bottom note. I would've updated sooner, but my internet got a virus. I fixed it though! All right, my mom did, but still!  
  
KV and Ryamon: JUST GET ON WITH THE CHAPTER!  
  
Right. Ok, here you go guys. Enjoy!  
  
****************************************************************************  
  
"So, have fun in France?" Sora asked me as she sat on my couch.  
  
"Yea, about as much fun as getting my teeth pulled." I rolled my eyes and continued cleaning my apartment.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"You try having a slut just throw themselves at you, then insult you." Her eyes widened.  
  
"Are you serious?"  
  
"Damn straight."  
  
"I thought you weren't straight though."  
  
"Shut up, Sora." She grinned and shook her head.  
  
"I'm just joking Mattie. You know that." I growled at her and went into the kitchen.  
  
"Did she know you were gay?"  
  
"Didn't get a chance to tell her. She met me, then 10 minutes later, she tells her friends I'm her boyfriend."  
  
"Was she pretty?" Sora followed me.  
  
"In a way, but she was always wearing these little slutty clothes. And let's just say she's not exactly built for them."  
  
"I see. Why didn't you just tell her you were taken?"  
  
"Didn't give me a chance."  
  
"So what DID she give you a chance to do?"  
  
"Insult her. Call her a slut." I replied and flopped down on my couch.  
  
"Oh no you don't. You said we were gonna go out." Sora said and pulled me off of the couch.  
  
"Why, I have a boyfriend." I mocked her. That earned me a slap behind my head.  
  
"You know what I meant. Let's go." She opened the door and dragged me downstairs.  
  
"So where we going anyway?" I asked her as I wriggled out of her grip.  
  
"Just gonna walk around. Meet up with the band." She replied and led the way.  
  
"The band? As in, MY band?"  
  
"Well yea, what other band do we know?"  
  
"Good Charlotte, Simple Plan, Linkin Park"  
  
"I mean personally, smartass."  
  
"Oh. Then never mind." She just shook her head and suddenly turned down the street and into Dawson's garage.  
  
"Hey guys." Sora greeted my band.  
  
"Hey Sors." They replied simultaneously.  
  
"We were almost going to leave to get you." Dawson said and sat on the beat- up couch.  
  
"Well, blame Matt." The others looked at me, waiting for an explanation.  
  
"I was under house arrest until I cleaned the apartment." I shrugged. Jamie rolled his eyes and sat down as well.  
  
"Did you even bother to tell him?" he asked Sora.  
  
"Tell who what?" I interrupted.  
  
"Tell you some good news." Rei emphasized the word you.  
  
"Such as....?"  
  
"We got a gig on Friday." Dawson replied.  
  
"Um, yay? What's so exciting about that?" I asked them boredly.  
  
"We're gonna be on TV!" Jamie blurted out. I looked up from my lyrics.  
  
"We're WHAT?"  
  
"We're gonna be on TV. LIVE BROADCAST!" Jamie started bouncing around in his seat.  
  
"Who gave him sugar?" I sighed. The others shrugged or rolled their eyes.  
  
"How did we get a live broadcast concert?"  
  
"You didn't get the note?" Rei asked me curiously.  
  
"What note?" I asked, feeling totally lost.  
  
"This note. I'm surprised you didn't get it." Dawson handed me a piece of paper.  
  
~ Hey Teenage Wolves,  
  
I know you guys have been trying since forever to get broadcasted. So, I did it for you. I had a CD I stole from Matt and let the TV station listen to it. They absolutely loved it. You'll have cameras out there by Friday.  
  
Also, I've got some other news. I have a friend who works for Jive Records. I let him listen to your demo as well. Representatives will be out there on Friday as well. If they like the concert, it's guaranteed that you'll get a record deal.  
  
Sorry I can't be there for the concert, but I will be watching it on TV. I come home next week. The week after your concert I mean. See you all soon!  
  
Tai. ~  
  
"I wonder why Tai didn't send it to you. He sent one to each of us." Rei brought me back to reality.  
  
"I don't know." Then everything slowly dawned on me.  
  
"Guys, if we have a gig, we need to prepare!" I exclaimed and jumped to my feet.  
  
"What do you mean by prepare, Mato?" Jamie asked me.  
  
"I mean, we need to practice, we need to announce the concert, sell tickets, everything in four days!" I started to panic.  
  
"Already taken care of Mattie." Sora replied.  
  
"How so?"  
  
"We've known since Saturday, 3 days ago. Today's Tuesday right?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"Ok, just checking. So anyway, everyone decided to help out. Kari ran an advertisement in the paper, Izzy hung up flyers and stuff at the college in Kyoto, Jyou posted signs at the hospital, Dai and TK went around to different stores putting up posters and giving them tickets to sell, my mom's selling them at the flower shop. We have everything under control." She explained with a grin.  
  
"Everybody wanted to help huh?"  
  
"Yea, but only if they got free tickets." Rei added. I rolled my eyes and picked up my guitar.  
  
"Ok guys, let's start practice." I plugged in my amp and started playing.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~***~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Check out all those people." Dawson said in awe as he poked his head from behind the curtain.  
  
"This is gonna rock!" Jamie exclaimed as he started bouncing around backstage.  
  
"James, chill out or I'll kick you in the nuts." Rei said lazily. Jamie's eyes widened and he stopped running around. I ran a hand through my hair and let my breath out..  
  
"You ok, Matt?" Dawson asked as he sat next to me. I blinked and looked up from my lap.  
  
"Yea. Just kind of nervous." I sighed. Rei and Jamie looked at eachother, then at me.  
  
"You?" They asked in simultaneous surprise. I shrugged and diverted my gaze to my lap again.  
  
"You NEVER get nervous." Rei raised his eyebrow.  
  
"Yea, but this is different."  
  
"How so?" Jamie tilted his head to one side.  
  
"This is BIG you guys. There's BOUND to be something that goes wrong." I reasoned with them.  
  
"You worry too much. Everything will be great." Dawson got up and opened his bass case.  
  
"Yea, just remember our rules." Jamie said cheerfully.  
  
"Play hard, live wild, rock on!" we said simultaneously.  
  
"Yea, I guess you guys are right." I grinned and got up from the couch.  
  
"Of course we're right." Rei said cockily. I rolled my eyes and got out my guitar.  
  
"Wolves, you're on in 2 minutes." One of the stagehands told us. We set up our instruments and got into our places.  
  
"You guys ready for this?" I asked them.  
  
"Hell yea." Rei said enthusiastically.  
  
"Let's get this party started!" Jamie grinned and hopped into his chair.  
  
"These people won't know what hit them." Dawson added as he positioned himself next to me.  
  
"Ladies and Gentlemen, presenting the Teenage Wolves!" Some announcer guy said and the curtains were drawn back. The crowd was huge, as in monstrous. Lights were blaring on us and the crowd was cheering. I grinned calmly and stepped up to the microphone.  
  
"Hey everybody, how you all doing tonight?" I asked cheerfully. As usual, my response was more cheering. I flashed them another grin and picked up my guitar.  
  
"Well then, let's get this thing started!" I exclaimed and started playing. I was still a nervous wreck, but I tried not to let it show. Somewhere out there were the representatives for Jive Records. 'It's up to me to get that deal. Up to me to keep things perfect.' That's all I thought about during the first set. I barely concentrated on my music, or on my lyrics. I messed up a few chords, stumbled on my words, and even almost dropped my guitar. I was so thankful for our intermission.  
  
"We're gonna take a short break so you all can psyche yourselves out for our next few numbers." Dawson announced and we walked off of the stage.  
  
"I think we're doing good so far." Jamie said. I collapsed into a chair and sighed.  
  
"Good enough to get the deal?" I replied bitterly.  
  
"Maybe. What's up with you anyway?" Dawson asked me.  
  
"Yea, you never mess up this bad." Rei added.  
  
"What about, 'practice, practice, practice?'" Jamie reminded me.  
  
"Just shut up and leave me alone ok?" I snapped and jumped out of my chair.  
  
"Matt get your blonde ass back here!" Dawson shouted after me. I walked into our 'Dressing room', which is actually a storage room, and slammed the door behind me.  
  
"Why the hell is this all happening now? If I keep this shit up, we aren't gonna get our deal." I mentally kicked myself.  
  
"Talking to yourself is a sign of insanity." A new voice interrupted me.  
  
"Look, just leave me alone all right?" I responded without turning around.  
  
"You sure you want me to leave?" someone moved closer to me.  
  
"Get out." Arms wrapped around my shoulders.  
  
"Turn around." He whispered into my ear. I turned around slowly and gasped.  
  
"Tai?" He nodded and grinned.  
  
"Hey Yama." He greeted me softly.  
  
"I...what are you doing here?"  
  
"Like I was going to miss something this important."  
  
"I thought you weren't suppose to be back until next week?"  
  
"I told them that I was needed back at home."  
  
"I can't believe you're home." I said as my eyes slowly filled with tears.  
  
"Yea. I'm finally home." He said and hugged me tighter. Just a little too tight.  
  
"Tai, I need to breathe." I said raspily.  
  
"Sorry. Just checking to see if you're real." He grinned.  
  
"You've been living in a different country for almost 3 months and you're still a dumbass." I shook my head in disbelief.  
  
"Yea. But you love me like that." He shot back.  
  
"Yea. Have you been here this whole time?"  
  
"Since the beginning of the concert. What's going on with you?"  
  
"What's THAT suppose to mean?"  
  
"You're nervous. And it shows."  
  
"How badly?"  
  
"Very. What are you nervous about?"  
  
"The representatives."  
  
"Just forgot they're there. Don't focus on impressing them."  
  
"That's KIND of hard when I know they're out there."  
  
"So focus on me. Look for me. Pretend you're only playing for me, your friends."  
  
"I'll try." I gave in and headed for the door.  
  
"You better. Or I'll hurt you." He mock threatened and followed me out. "I'm gonna go sit back down. Look for me."  
  
"Ok. See ya after." I walked back to where the band was.  
  
"Glad to see Tai changed your mind." Jamie said and got out of his chair.  
  
"Did you guys know he was here?" I asked my band.  
  
"Yea. He came looking for you here first. Plus he's out in the crowd." Dawson replied.  
  
"Hard to miss that bush he calls hair." Rei added in.  
  
"True. You ready to start up again?" I asked them.  
  
"Only if you are." Dawson said and grabbed his bass.  
  
"Let's go." We walked back onto the stage and got into our places. I looked out into the crowd and smiled. I could see Tai, sitting with Dai, TK, and Kari. Then I saw them: the representatives. I froze in my spot, I couldn't help it. They were busy talking amongst themselves and didn't look to thrilled. I looked back at Tai and saw him looking at me. He smiled and shook his head. 'Just play for me.' His words echoed in my mind. And this time it wasn't only because he's loud. I stepped up to the mike and cleared my throat quietly.  
  
"Hey everybody, we are back. You ready for more?" I asked them. They went wild with cheers.  
  
"Glad to hear it. Well, this next song is something new we came up. For someone out there, you know who you are. Hope you all enjoy it." I said and looked at Tai. He understood my look and grinned with an eye roll. I signaled the guys and started to play.  
  
Since the moment I spotted you  
  
Like walking round with little wings on my shoes  
  
My stomach's filled with the butterflies... and it's alright  
  
Bouncing round from cloud to cloud  
  
I got the feeling like I'm never gonna come down  
  
If I said I didn't like it then you know I'd lied  
  
Every time I try to talk to you  
  
I get tongue-tied  
  
Seems like everything I say to you  
  
Comes out wrong and never comes out right  
  
So I'll say why don't you and I get together and take on the world  
  
and be together forever  
  
Heads we will and tails we'll try again  
  
So I say why don't you and I hold each other and fly to the moon  
  
and straight on to heaven  
  
Cause without you they're never going to let me in  
  
When's this fever going to break?  
  
I think I've handled more than any man can take  
  
I'm like a love-sick puppy chasing you around  
  
And it's alright  
  
Bouncing round from cloud to cloud  
  
I got the feeling like I'm never going to come down  
  
If said I didn't like it then you know I'd lied  
  
So I'll say why don't you and I get together and take on the world  
  
and be together forever  
  
Heads we will and tails we'll try again  
  
So I say why don't you and I hold each other and fly to the moon  
  
and straight on to heaven  
  
Cause without you they're never going to let me in  
  
And slowly I begin to realize this is never going to end  
  
Right about the same time you walk by  
  
And I say 'Oh here we go again'  
  
So I'll say why don't you and I get together and take on the world  
  
and be together forever  
  
Heads we will and tails we'll try again  
  
So I say why don't you and I hold each other and fly to the moon  
  
and straight on to heaven  
  
Cause without you they're never going to let me in  
  
The last chord was played and the crowd cheered like crazy. I grabbed the mike again.  
  
"So, I take it you liked this song." More screams were heard.  
  
"Good. Then I hope you'll like this one." I said and started playing another song. From that point on, the concert went much smoother. When it was all over, the crowd roared with applause. We ran backstage and collapsed.  
  
"THAT went much better this time." Jamie panted as he dropped his drumsticks.  
  
"Yea, glad you pulled your act together, Mato." Dawson added. Then a young woman approached us.  
  
"Are you the Teenage Wolves?" I got up and walked over towards her.  
  
"That's us."  
  
"I'm Andrea Kingston. I'm from Jive Records." She extended her hand.  
  
"I'm Yamato Ishida." I shook her hand.  
  
"Lead singer correct?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Well, let's get to the point. We have been out there watching your concert tonight."  
  
"Yes. One of my friends told me you would be here this evening." She smiled and shook her head.  
  
"Tai can't keep his mouth shut can he?"  
  
"Nope. He's just a chatterbox." Jamie told her. I sent him a look to shut him up.  
  
"Right. So anyway, we would like to ask you something."  
  
"Go ahead." Dawson encouraged her. Why wouldn't they just let ME do the talking?  
  
"We would like to offer you a deal."  
  
"As in a record deal?" Rei asked, amazed.  
  
"Yes. We were a little wary of this idea at the beginning of the concert, but the second half was much better. And judging by your demo CD, this is how you always play when you aren't nervous."  
  
"Yea, I suppose." I replied.  
  
"So, would you like this deal?" I looked at my band mates and nodded.  
  
"Definitely!" we answered simultaneously.  
  
"Great. We'll let you know when we can start recording your first CD. All we need to do is have you all sign this contract." She handed me a piece of paper and a pen. I read over the fine print, then ignored it and signed it. The rest of the band signed it as well.  
  
"Here are your copies and I'll keep the master copy."  
  
"Thanks a lot Ms. Kingston." She nodded and walked off. I looked at the band, then at my contract, then back at the band.  
  
"We did it. We're officially a band." I said.  
  
"This is SO cool!" Jamie said as he started bouncing around.  
  
"We got a deal. We're getting our own CD." Dawson said in awe.  
  
"And it's all thanks to Matt." Rei added in.  
  
"Why thanks to me?"  
  
"Because you're dating Tai."  
  
"And I'm glad he's dating me." Tai himself said and appeared from the corner.  
  
"So, I take it Andrea gave you the deal?" he asked.  
  
"Yea. This is great! How did you do all of this?" I asked him.  
  
"Andrea was one of the people I met in NYC. She seemed to like me, so I used it to my advantage. I just got her and the others to come, you did the rest." I jumped on him and squeezed the life out of him.  
  
"Thanks SO much!" I grinned.  
  
"No prob. NOW GET OFF!" he pried himself out of my grip.  
  
"You know, we need to have a party." Dawson said suddenly.  
  
"Already taken care of Daws. Everybody headed over to the warehouse." Tai grinned and started walking off. We caught up with him and walked with him. We always go to the warehouse for parties, it's so huge. And Tai's uncle owns it, even though it's never used.  
  
"You've just taken care of everything haven't you?" I asked him.  
  
"Yup. It's sort of like a celebration party for you guys and a welcome home party for me all in one." He grinned cockily. I shook my head and sighed.  
  
"You're never going to change are you?"  
  
"No. You would never love me as much." I rolled my eyes and kissed him anyway.  
  
"You're right, I wouldn't. Thanks for everything, Tai."  
  
"You know you don't need to thank me. It's what I do, make life better."  
  
"That's so true."  
  
"Hey guys, are you coming in or what?" Jamie called from the door of the warehouse. I grinned and nodded.  
  
"We're coming, hold your balls." I shouted back.  
  
"You might not want to tell him that, he'll probably do it." Tai reminded me.  
  
"Who cares?" I shrugged. He shrugged also and took my hand, leading me into the best night of my life.  
  
**************************************************************************** * Well, since that chapter's over....  
  
KV: EPILOGUE TIME!  
  
That's right, KV. There will be an epilogue after this, coming up sometime this week or early next week. And in that epilogue will be what happens at the party. (Hint: Tai and Matt have a talk and secrets are revealed.)  
  
Ryamon: Then she starts on the third story.  
  
Yup, then I start on the last story in my Model trilogy. But in the meantime..reviews? I love you guys! 


	8. Epilogue: Good Things Come To Those Who ...

Hey everybody! Well, this is the last chapter of Model Love. But don't worry, there will most DEFINITELY be a sequel to the sequel.  
  
KV: Wouldn't that make it a trilogy?  
  
Precisely. Anyways, let's get to answering those reviews!  
  
Dark_Fox: Coolness is right. Hey wait, that's my word! Lol.  
  
Sillie: Yea, he just seems like someone who would get nervous over a BIG BIG BIG deal. Glad you think it was sweet. I continued sooner then I thought.  
  
Gay Witch: It's not bad....parts of the chapter are bad though...glad you like it! I updated sooner then I thought.  
  
Lampshadesrgreat:: Glad you liked it. Tai hasn't told anyone btw. I posted more!  
  
Vialana: Tai is back! I missed him so he came back early. Glad you liked so much of the chapter. Here's the epilogue, and are you a mind reader? You seem to know my ideas before I post them. Or are they just that obvious...? Thanks! COOKIES! HAHAHA! Epilogue is out! And you should REALLY update Realities of Friendship, I love that fic. You only have, one more chapter? Don't be cruel...lol.  
  
CCPheonix: Yup, all the good Taitoness. I posted as soon as I could. I hope you can read this before you leave. Where you going? And yes, that's what I mean about the secrets. Anyways, have fun wherever you're going and make sure to look for the 3rd story when you come home.  
  
NEo-cHaN: Wait no more, it's here! ^_^ And you need to update Kukachi. Love that fic.  
  
Heaven's Angel Chick: I won't leave you hanging anymore.  
  
Claire1308: Glad you like it. The third story.......I think it'll be called Model Perfection. No actually, I'm not sure. It'll definitely be Model something though. I will write it soon.  
  
Digininga: Glad you like it. You REALLY confused me with the whole guessing thing, but then again I get confused easily. Anyway, I think you DO know...here's the epilogue and new story will be out soon.  
  
Aero-Grrl: Yup, whoohoo! He got his deal. I couldn't live without Tai home anymore. I updated. Now about your story, "Behind the Curtain.. you need to update that. Lol. I love that fic.  
  
All right now. I normally wouldn't have posted this so soon, but I did it under the request of CCPheonix, who is leaving on holiday Saturday. So I thought I'd be nice and give her the last chapter. And then I can start on the next story. But yea, read the bottom note like always.  
  
KV: And enjoy the last chapter of Model Love.  
  
************************************************************************** Tai and I walked into the party together. I was so glad that I finally had him all to myself again.  
  
"Hey you guys!" Tai greeted someone and walked away. Well, I DID have him all to myself.  
  
"Hey Matt, come over here." Tai waved. I shrugged and walked towards him. He was standing with Mimi and a few other people I didn't recognize.  
  
"Um..Tai? Who are all these people?" I asked him cautiously.  
  
"These are some of my friends from NYC. This is Justin, Mimi's boyfriend. Then this is McKenzie, Ryan, and Tyce. Guys, this is my boyfriend Matt." Tai introduced me to the group before me.  
  
"Oh my gosh, you're even cuter in person." McKenzie gushed. 'Oh great, another Tawny.' I thought to myself.  
  
"What do you mean, in person?" I asked the red head.  
  
"Tai showed me a picture. You're cute. What can I say?" She shrugged. I raised my eyebrow subconsciously.  
  
"Relax, I'm not trying to hit on you or anything. I think it's great you and Tai are dating." She said with a grin.  
  
"Ok. Just checking." I returned the smile.  
  
"So yea, enjoy yourselves guys, mingle, do anything!" Tai said and dragged me away from the others. He sat down on one of the couches and dragged me down with him.  
  
"So talk to me. I haven't seen you forever." He said as he opened a can of pop.  
  
"Well, what's there to really say? I've been working with the band, I went to France, was hit on by a slut who wouldn't let me tell her I was gay and taken. Just little things like that." I finished off.  
  
"Sounds like you were busy this summer."  
  
"No not really. Mostly I was kicking myself for letting you leave me." He grinned and rolled his eyes.  
  
"No sense in doing that if I'm back now is there?"  
  
"Guess not." I got off of the couch.  
  
"I'm gonna get something to drink." I told him.  
  
"Yea, I'm gonna go get to know everybody again. Do you mind?"  
  
"Nah, you go ahead. I'll catch up with you later." I waved and walked in the other direction. I strolled over to the refreshment table and grabbed whatever the liquid was that was sitting in the punch bowl. I had no clue what it was, but it tasted good. So good in fact, that I took a bunch more after that.  
  
*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~**~*~*~*~~*~*~*~~*~*~*~~**~~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~~*~*~**~  
  
It was about 2 hours into the party. I had no idea where Tai was at this point. Actually, I didn't really know anything at this point. Everything was sort of hazy. So I was sitting on the couch, just watching everybody else have a good time, and drinking my....whatever it was. I knew Jamie had something to do with it though. Then I felt someone sit down next to me. I opened my eyes and glanced to my left.  
  
"You're Ryan, right?" the young brunette nodded.  
  
"Yea. And no need to remind me of who you are. You're all Tai talks about." He said and went back to staring off into space.  
  
"Ryan, is there something wrong? You look...depressed."  
  
"Not depressed, just confused."  
  
"About what?" he had my whole attention now.  
  
"Well, are you drunk?" he caught me off-guard. I shook my head, then realized that that wasn't a smart idea.  
  
"I don't know. Is the punch bowl liquid spiked?"  
  
"Yes. Some hyper blonde spiked it." He informed me. Jamie. So I was right. Oh well.  
  
"All right, then yes I am. Why?"  
  
"Because then you won't remember any of what I'm going to confide in you."  
  
"Why tell me? I figured you would ask Tai." He shook his head and sighed.  
  
"No, Tai's on McKenzie's side. Plus it'd be too weird to ask him."  
  
"So you're going to ask a stranger?" I raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Not a TOTAL stranger."  
  
"All right. So what are you so confused about?"  
  
"How did you know you were gay?" Again, he caught me off-guard.  
  
"What?" I asked out of shock.  
  
"Never mind. Sorry for bothering you." He mumbled and started to get off the couch.  
  
"No, sit. You just surprised me that's all." I pulled on his wrist and he sat down.  
  
"So, why do you ask?" I asked him.  
  
"I don't know. I'm just confused about it. I mean, McKenzie told me she liked me a few weeks ago. I told her I didn't feel the same way, which was true, but it didn't mean I didn't like her as a person. Either way, we got mad at eachother and haven't spoken since then. Then I got to thinking, I've never actually liked a girl like that. So I've just been..."  
  
"Contemplating your sexuality?" I finished for him.  
  
"Yea I guess."  
  
"Well, have you ever been attracted to another guy?"  
  
"No, not exactly."  
  
"What do you mean, not exactly?" He sort of blushed and went all quiet.  
  
"I've never been attracted, but....thought they were good looking. But same thing with girls. So again, more confused."  
  
"Maybe you're Bi." He shrugged and was silent. Then he glanced over to me.  
  
"Do you think we could try something to help?" he asked me.  
  
"Like what?" I didn't have time to react as he planted his lips onto mine. I knew it was wrong, but I couldn't help it. He wriggled his tongue into my mouth and started messing around. I knew it was wrong, but it felt so right.  
  
"YAMATO ISHIDA WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" a loud voice interrupted. Ryan and I quickly pulled apart and I looked for the voice. I spotted Tai standing in front of us, and he didn't look very happy.  
  
"Tai, look I can explain." I jumped off the couch.  
  
"Ryan what the hell were you thinking? I thought I could trust you!" Tai turned towards Ryan.  
  
"Tai, calm down." Ryan tried to tell him.  
  
"Calm? How the hell do I stay calm?" Tai yelled at him.  
  
"Tai, people are starting to stare at you." I pointed out. He turned and glared at me.  
  
"Who gives a damn about them? I can't believe you would do this to me." He said as his eyes filled with tears and he ran out the front door. I flashed Ryan an apologetic look and ran after Tai. I found him standing outside of the door, crying and ignoring everything around him.  
  
"Tai, I can explain."  
  
"I'm sure you can." I replied bitterly. I sighed and walked closer to him.  
  
"Look, Ryan needed some advice." I started out.  
  
"So you kissed him to help?" Tai raised his eyebrow.  
  
"Actually, he kissed me." I corrected him.  
  
"Yea, but you kissed back. Hell Matt, you looked like you were enjoying yourself!"  
  
"Well, yea. He's not a bad kisser really." Even in my drunken state, I knew I had pissed him off even more.  
  
"Oh really? So why not go out with him instead of me huh?" he glared through his tears.  
  
"Tai, it's not like that." I tried again.  
  
"You know what, Yamato? Screw it."  
  
"Screw what?"  
  
"The relationship. We're through." He turned on his heel and walked away.  
  
"Tai wait!" I called after him. I really did still love him. And he just dumped me.  
  
"Why?" I asked no one in particular. I continued to watch the lone figure walk down the street in the pale moonlight. And that was the last thing I saw before I passed out.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*  
  
There were a bunch of shouts coming from outside the window. I slowly opened my eyes and realized that wasn't a smart idea. Everything was spinning and making me feel dizzy.  
  
"What the hell happened last night? And where am I?" I asked myself as I buried my head further into my pillow. Wait a sec, this isn't my pillow. I cautiously sat up and looked around.  
  
"This isn't my bed. This isn't my room. Hell, this isn't even my house!" I said. My stomach suddenly flipped.  
  
"Oh shit." I scrambled out of my bed or whoever's bed it was and bolted for the bathroom, where I proceeded to puke my guts out.  
  
"Nice to see you awake." Someone said from the doorway. I looked up and saw Tai. Tai...wait. '"You know what, Yamato? Screw it." "Screw what?" "The relationship. We're through."' I remember now. Ah shit, what did I do?  
  
"Tai....um..where am I?" I asked helplessly. He rolled his eyes and walked towards me.  
  
"Are you really that drunk?" he said sarcastically and handed me a glass of water.  
  
"Drunk?" I repeated.  
  
"Yea, from last night."  
  
"Last night?"  
  
"What are you, a parrot?" he asked me.  
  
"No, my head hurts." I whined. He rolled his eyes again and handed me an aspirin.  
  
"You're at my house. You got drunk at the party last night." He explained.  
  
"And you broke up with me." I finished for him.  
  
"Yep." He walked out of the bathroom. I slowly followed him.  
  
"Why did you bring me here then?" I asked him as I sat next to him.  
  
"What did you think I was going to do, leave you there, passed out in the middle of nowhere?" He replied without looking at me.  
  
"Your parents didn't care?"  
  
"They weren't home. They'll be back sometime this afternoon though."  
  
"Tai, can I explain about last night?"  
  
"I know Ryan kissed you. He told me that he took advantage of you. But I understand why he did it."  
  
"So why are you still mad at me?" He looked up at me with pained eyes.  
  
"Because you never explained why you liked it."  
  
"I was drunk! I didn't know what I was doing!"  
  
"YOU WERE KISSING HIM BACK!"  
  
"NOT MY FAULT HIS TONGUE STARTED SLIDING DOWN MY THROAT!"  
  
"WHAT?"  
  
"Look, he took advantage of me. That doesn't mean I love you any less!"  
  
"Yea well, you have a messed up way of showing it!"  
  
"Tai look, I missed you. I was deprived of your love. So when Ryan started making out with me, I just reacted without thinking. Reminded me of the times I kissed you."  
  
"Yet, it was still with another guy." He growled. I shook my head.  
  
"Tai what the hell is your damn problem? You haven't been the same since you came home!"  
  
"Shit happens." He said curtly.  
  
"Tai, did something happen in New York?" He still refused to look at me.  
  
"Tai, what happened?" I persisted him.  
  
"Raped." He mumbled quietly.  
  
"WHAT?" I made him look at me, his eyes filling again.  
  
"I was raped, ok?" he said, on the verge of sobbing.  
  
"When? Who? Why?" I asked all at the same time.  
  
"About 5 weeks after I was there. Some ass who was sharing a room with me at the corporation. And because I messed with him, pissed him off." He replied.  
  
"Why didn't you ever tell me?" He looked me in the eye and glared.  
  
"What do you think I was trying to do? But you were making out with Ryan. I go back to talk to YOU again, and YOU were kissing another guy! Do you have ANY idea how that makes ME feel?" I never expected him to say something like that. I never dreamed something like that would happen to MY Tai. Some creep damaged him and I couldn't do anything about it. By now he was in tears again.  
  
"Tai....I don't know what to say."  
  
"Yea, well, there's nothing to say." He said quietly. I just sat there like a moron and stared at him.  
  
"You should go home now." He mumbled and started to get of the couch. I grabbed his wrist and held him still.  
  
"Just because I kissed another guy doesn't mean I love you any less. I'm sorry I didn't let you tell me."  
  
"Yea, sure." He brushed it off. I was starting to get a little irritated.  
  
"Look Tai, you want prove, here's you prove." I said and kissed him hard on the mouth. He didn't expect it, but he quickly responded. I slowly pulled away and grinned.  
  
"Better then anything Ryan could do." I said.  
  
"Yea."  
  
"So do you forgive me?"  
  
"No." My jaw dropped.  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because, I should be asking you for forgiveness." He smiled softly.  
  
"You're forgiven if I'm forgiven." I replied.  
  
"Good. Then there's only one thing I have to ask."  
  
"What would that be, Tai?"  
  
"Will you go out with me again?"  
  
"Of course." I told him and started kissing him again, pushing him down on the couch. I straddled his hips as he slipped his hands under my shirt, rubbing one finger up and down my spine. I could tell that he had a hard- on. He gently unbuttoned my shirt and took it off of me. He started to unzip my jeans when I stopped him.  
  
"What is it?" he asked as he panted.  
  
"Don't you think we should do this somewhere more...enclosed? I don't think your mom and dad would appreciate it if they walked in to find us screwing on the sofa."  
  
"That's true...." He said and pushed me off of him.  
  
"Then, we go to my room." He said and lifted me up, carrying me into his bedroom. He closed the door, locked it, and dropped me on the bed.  
  
"So, shall we continue?" he asked slyly.  
  
"Let's." I grinned lazily and let him rid me of my jeans. I did the same for him, while still kissing every inch of his bare chest.  
  
"You sure about this?" I asked him. He nodded.  
  
"I'm definitely sure." He said. I nodded back and plunged into my pleasure, muffling his screams with kisses.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~~***~*~***~*~*~*~**  
  
The sun was slowly going down. I climbed out of the bed and pulled my boxers on.  
  
"Mato, you DO realize those are mine, don't you?" Tai sat up from the bed. I looked down and back at him.  
  
"Well, now I do." I replied as I threw mine at him.  
  
"You're not going to take them off and put on your own?" he asked me in confusion.  
  
"Nope." He rolled his eyes and slipped into my boxers. I climbed back into bed and pulled the covers over us. Tai snuggled up closer to me.  
  
"There are moments like these that remind me how glad I am to be home." He said, breaking the serene silence.  
  
"Tai, that sounded like something from a Hallmark card." He shrugged.  
  
"So? It's true. Plus this was better then getting some from being raped."  
  
"Please say you think about more then that."  
  
"Yes I do."  
  
"Like what?" He started drawing circles on my bare chest.  
  
"Like you....and me..and how lucky I am to have you as mine. All for myself."  
  
"I'm glad to hear it." He nodded and yawned.  
  
"Tired?" I asked. He nodded again and closed his eyes.  
  
"I couldn't sleep last night."  
  
"Why not?" I asked, concerned.  
  
"Because I was beating myself up for telling you to leave me. And just some other things."  
  
"Don't worry about it." I ran a hand through his hair. Even though it looked rough and wild, it felt nice. Kind of soft and silky.  
  
"Aren't your parents coming home soon?" I glanced at the clock.  
  
"Not until tomorrow."  
  
"You told me that they were coming back this afternoon."  
  
"That was just to try and get rid of you. And it didn't work anyway so drop it."  
  
"And you were trying to get rid of me why?"  
  
"'Cause I was still mad at you."  
  
"You're not now, are you?"  
  
"Nope. Otherwise I wouldn't have let you screw me." I rolled my eyes.  
  
"Good point." It was quiet again, not like an awkward quiet or a creepy quiet, but a tranquil quiet.  
  
"You know Tai, I'm glad we're still together. I mean, what would life be without you? You're my best friend and boyfriend. If something happened in one relationship, I'd lose the other. I'm just happy to know we can get through anything now. You know what I mean?" I was met with silence.  
  
"Tai?" I looked down and saw him sound asleep. I had to fight the urge to go, "Aww!" It was just cute. I smiled and crawled further into the bed.  
  
"Yea, I know what you mean." He said quietly. I looked over to him and saw that he was still asleep.  
  
'He never shuts up.' I thought to myself. But then again, I couldn't deal with him any other way.  
  
"Good night, Tai." I kissed him gently on the forehead and started to drift off, next to my boyfriend of forever and always. But then I woke myself up.  
  
'Is it really forever and always?' I thought to myself again. I looked at Tai and examined every part of him. Then I looked at his upper body. There on his neck was the same ring I gave him 3 months ago. He was subconsciously clutching it in his sleep. I shook my head and closed my eyes again.  
  
"Yea. Definitely forever and always." I said aloud and fell into a peaceful sleep.  
  
**************************************************************************** *  
  
Well, there you have it ladies and gentlemen, the end of Model Love. That was suppose to be a lemon, but I don't think it turned out right. I've never written one before, so it might have flopped. Anyway, I hope you liked how that ended. I know I did. I bit of normality at the beginning, angst in the middle, sorta lemon in the other middle, and fluff at the end!  
  
KV: Not your BEST fluff though.  
  
I know. That's for the next story.  
  
Ryamon: Way to go IV. You just wrecked the surprise in the third story.  
  
Oh well. Just be on the look out for it. I'm not sure what I'm going to call it, but it will obviously start with "Model". So in the meantime...reviews? Thanks. I LOVE YOU REVIEWERS!  
  
KV and Ryamon: She's hyper. Forgive her.  
  
Shut up guys. Bai people! 


End file.
